
French corvette Forfait

Forfait was an unarmored screw corvette built for the French Navy in the late 1850s that entered service in 1860. She saw service in the French intervention in Mexico in the 1860s and was sunk in a collision in 1875.
Construction and commissioning.
"Forfait" had a steam engine and screw propulsion that gave her a top speed under steam of 12 knots, as well as a barque rig. She initially was armed with four 152-mm (6-inch) guns, which by the 1870s had been increased to six 152-mm (6-inch) guns. She was unarmored. Launched in 1859, she entered service in 1860. Classified as a "wing scout," she was intended to conduct reconnaissance for the French fleet's larger ships, as well as to undertake independent operations.
Service.
Early in her career, "Forfait" actively supported the French intervention in Mexico by transporting troops and equipment to Veracruz, Mexico, and landing a shore party to assist in the capture of Tuxpan, Mexico, in 1864. Later in the 1860s she operated in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean and conducted hydrographic surveys off the northwest coast of Borneo. By 1872 she was based at Toulon, France, and operating with the French Navy's Mediterranean Squadron.
Loss.
On 21 July 1875, "Forfait" was participating in a naval exercise involving six ironclads – the broadside ironclad "Magenta", operating as the flagship, and five "Alma"-class central battery ironclads – and a number of smaller ships in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the east coast of Corsica . The ironclads were steaming in beautiful weather at 8 knots in two parallel columns, with "Magenta" leading one column, followed by "Jeanne d′Arc" and "Reine Blanche", and "Armide" leading the other, followed by "Thétis" and "Alma". Operating as a dispatch vessel, "Forfait" was steaming outside of the columns. At 12:00 noon the admiral commanding the squadron ordered "Forfait" to pass astern of "Magenta" to receive orders. Attempting to place his ship in the column between "Magenta" and "Jeanne d′Arc", the commanding officer of "Forfait" misjudged his turn, and "Jeanne d′Arc" collided with "Forfait", her ram bow tearing into "Forfait"′s side. "Forfait" sank 14 minutes later, her crew of 160 taking safely to her boats. Her commanding officer remained on the bridge until "Forfait" sank beneath him, but floated free, clung to floating wreckage, and was rescued.