Her shipwreck in a storm off Sebastopol in 1854 marked the beginnings of French meteorology.
She was commanded by Louis Henri de Gueydon from 1850 to 1852[1] and took part in the bombardment of Salé on 26 November 1851, suffering major damage and losing her main mast.
A major hurricane took the Allied fleet by surprise off the coast of Eupatoria on 14 November 1854, sinking the Henri IV and the corvette Pluton.
[3] They were two of 38 French, Ottoman and British ships lost in November 1854.
The sinking of the Henri IV proved a spur to French meteorological research.