The Ville de Nantes-class ships were repeats of the preceding ship of the line and were also designed by naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme. They had a length at the waterline of 71.23m (233.69feet), a beam of 16.8m (55.1feet) and a depth of hold of 8.16m (26.77feet). The ships displaced 5121t and had a draught of 8.45m (27.72feet) at deep load. Their crew numbered 913 officers and ratings.[1]
The Ville de Nantes class were powered by a pair of four-cylinder steam engines that drove the single propeller shaft using steam provided by eight boilers. The engines were rated at 900 nominal horsepower[1] and produced 3600ihp for a speed of 11kn. The ships were fitted with three masts and ship rigged.[1]
As of 1862 Ville de Bordeaux was armed with twenty-four 30-pounder smoothbore cannon and ten rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns on the lower gundeck. On the upper gundeck were twenty-four 30-pounder cannon and ten Paixhans guns. Distributed between the quarterdeck and forecastle were twenty Paixhans guns and a pair of 163 mm MLR guns.[2]
Ville de Bordeaux conducted trials in 1861 before being put in ordinary. Reactivated under Captain Delangle de Cary in 1862 for the Second French intervention in Mexico, she served for three years before returning to the ordinary. She was reactivated again, this time under Commander Mer, to bring back the French troops in Mexico back to France in 1867.[3]
After the Paris Commune, Ville de Bordeaux was used as a prison hulk in Brest. In January 1880, she was renamed Bretagne and replaced Bretagne as a boys' schoolship, role which retained until 1894, when Fontenoy, also renamed Bretagne, took her place.