 Charles-Eugène Delaunay (1816–1872), Director of the Paris Observatory, drowned while visiting the harbour.Among the engineers of the Directorate of construction and naval weapons, included Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789–1857) and also Maxime Laubeuf.Under the Ancien Régime, the safeguarding of the Château de Cherbourg was already the task of illustrious figures of the Kingdom, such as , the and ( 1697).