The latter were good seakeeping vessels but considered slow and with their guns positioned too close to the waterline.

The Génies were designed to a new hull plan, shorter in length but with a greater beam and depth.

[4] On the morning of 22 December 1867 the Euryale collided with the American vessel Sapphire in San Francisco harbor.

The court papers record that a south-easterly wind blew up overnight on 21 December and by midnight had reached 6 knots in strength.

They note that the wind strengthened to a gale by 5 am at which time the Sapphire, also affected by the changing tide, drifted and collided with the Euryale.

The justices noted that Euryale, as a French Navy vessel, would also not have been able to be inspected under an American warrant.

The Supreme Court considered that the distance the Sapphire anchored away from the Euryale was sufficient, as had been testified by experienced pilots, and no complaint had been made before the accident.

The court recorded that the Euryale's watchman made a report to his seniors between 4 am and 5 am notifying them of the danger posed by the approaching Sapphire.

[4] However, before the Supreme Court could render a verdict the Euryale was wrecked on Starbuck Island, an uninhabited reef in the Central Pacific, on 4 March 1870.