Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait (21 April 1752, in Rouen – 8 November 1807, in Rouen) was a French engineer, hydrographer and politician, and Minister of the Navy. Career Born to a family of rich merchants, Forfait studied at a Jesuit college in Rouen, where he was awarded prizes in Mathematics and Hydrography upon graduation. In 1773, and in spite being a Commoner, he was admitted as an assistant member of Rouen Academy and assistant naval engineer, before serving at Brest harbour. In 1777, Forfait rose to sub-engineer under Antoine Groignard. In 1781, he was made an adjunct member of the Naval Academy. In 1783, he embarked on the 110-gun Terrible, part of a Franco-Spanish fleet assembled before Cádiz under Admiral d'Estaing, but the end of the American War of Independence occurred before it saw action. Forfait nevertheless helped repair eleven of the ships of the fleet. After the Treaty of Paris, he returned to work at the Naval Academy and notably authored a Traité de la mâture upon request by Castries, then Secretary of State of the Navy. In recognition, he was admitted as a corresponding member in the Academy of Sciences. He simultaneously developed new techniques to improve the disposition of cargo in ships' holds. In 1789, he was appointed director of service of Le Havre harbour, where he improved the design of fluyts. He was then sent to England to study the British shipbuilding techniques, and authored the Observations sur la marine de d'Angleterre upon his return. After the outbreak of the French Revolution, Forfait was elected at the Legislative Assembly in 1791 as deputy for the Seine-Inférieure. His moderate positions earned him the mocking nickname of "Juste Milieu", which he wore with pride. At the end of his mandate in September 1792, he returned to shipbuilding at Le Havre. Around this time, Forfait designed the 38-gun frigate Seine, which included structural innovations and were designed to carry 24-pounder long guns — more powerful than the usual 18-pounder long guns usually born by ships of this size, although the Seine was eventually armed with 18-pounders. The Seine class, built on these plans, came to comprise 7 ships. Forfait furthered his efforts with the Romaine class in 1794, and was also involved in the design of the Etna-class corvettes. During the Reign of Terror, he was accused at a political club of Le Havre. He was eventually freed by the Committee