armé en flûte

[stillnotmyrealname]

Hello forum,

I just wanted to check if I am right in thinking that the term 'en flûte' (in this context: 'les bâtiments de guerre armé en flûte') refers to the positioning of artillery on warships (the extract is from a letter from Napoleon about naval preparations), in an arrowhead layout spreading out from the bow back down the ship? Many thanks for your help.

 

[SwissPete]

Welcome to the forum, stillnotmyrealname.

This link may be helpful:

Arming a ship en flûte (French: "as a fluyt") means removing some or all of the artillery. Since ships have a limited amount of cargo space, they may be armed en flûte to make room for other cargo, such as troops and ammunition. This reduces the ship's ability to defend herself if attacked.

 

[stillnotmyrealname]

Thank you Swiss Pete, I am glad I checked as I was not sure - so I could say as a translation of 'armé en flûte' (thank you for the ref. page for 'fluyt'): 'provisionally armed (for the journey)' - given that they did indeed need to carry troops, supplies, men and horses as well as weapons so space was limited? Thank you!