French ship Ville de Paris (1850)

On 23 March 1853, she departed Toulon for Greece, leading the First Squadron of Vice-Admiral Régnault de La Susse.

She arrived at Athens in March 1853, where La Susse was relieved, and joined with the British squadron under Admiral Dundas at Malta.

Ville de Paris arrived at Odessa on 6 January 1854, taking Russian prisoners captured by other French units, and directing the shelling of the city on 22 March 1854.

On 17 October 1854, Ville de Paris launched the bombardment of Sevastopol by signaling "France watches you".

On 14 November 1854, Ville de Paris lost steering during a storm, and had to return to the Bosporus in tow of a steamship.

From July 1857, Ville de Paris was transformed into a steamship, gaining 5.47 metres (17.9 ft) in the process.

The explosion of a Russian shell on Ville de Paris at Sebastopol in 1854
The deck of the Ville De Paris , at the moment when the poop was struck by the Russian shell at Sebastopol
Ville de Paris among the escadre d'évolution , around 1864