Magali B. Roussel is Dupuy de Lôme great-great-granddaughter

Our logo is just like the brilliant inventor: synonomous with dreams and innovation

Stanislas Charles Henri Dupuy de Lôme was born on 15 October 1816 in the Manoir de Soye in Ploemeur near Lorient, Brittany. He was an outstanding student at Lorient high school and wanted to go on to the Naval Academy. His father however had other plans and insisted on him going to Polytèchnique (a high-ranking engineering school), which he did in 1835.

He finally had his way when in 1837 he obtained a place at the National School of Naval Engineering.

Serving under Admiral Joffre, he discovered steam boats used in Algeria and was particularly interested in boilers, alternative machines and paddle-wheel propellers for which he made improvements.

On June 1st 1842 he went off to Britain to study the first iron-built ships which led him to write a report called “Le Traité de la construction de Fer” (Treaty for Iron-Built Ships). This Treaty pathed the way to his Legion of Honour which he received in 1845 at the age of 29.

He is the designer of many inventions in shipbuilding for example:

• the world’s first steam battleship, the Napoléon, launched in 1850.
• the development of the first Western ironclad battleship Gloire in 1858
• the building of the first electrical submarine Le Gymnote.

However, the sparks of his creative mind weren’t limited to seafaring engines:

• When people tried to put naval cannons onto wagons, Dupuy de Lôme drew up the plans; the first money train was born.
• During the Paris siege in 1870, Dupuy de Lôme resumed work on a navigable balloon La Galère which could bring back news from the capital. The calculations made in order to create this balloon were said to be “a ground-breaking revelation in aerodynamics”.