French frigate Bellone (1779)

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File:Prosperine-Antoine Roux.jpg
Career (France) French Navy Ensign French Navy Ensign French Navy Ensign
Name: Bellone
Namesake: Bellona
Builder: Saint Malo
Laid down: January 1778
Launched: 22 August 1778
Commissioned: February 1779
Captured: 12 August 1798
Career (UK) Royal Navy Ensign
Name: HMS Prosperine
Acquired: 12 August 1798
Fate: Hulk in Plymouth
Broken up 1806
General characteristics
Class and type: Iphigénie class frigate
Displacement: 620 tonnes
Length: 44.2 metres
Beam: 11.2 metres
Draught: 4.9 metres
Propulsion: Sail
Armament:

32 guns[1]: 28 18-pound long guns

4 6-pound long guns
Armour: Timber

The Bellone was an Iphigénie class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy. She was one of the French ships with a copper-covered hull.

In 1782, she fought against HMS Coventry. She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 (Glorious First of June) and in the Expédition d'Irlande.

Capture and fate

She was captured on 12 August 1798 at the Battle of Tory Island by HMS Melampus [2] and HMS Ethalion [3], and was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Proserpine. Although officially 'under repair' at Plymouth, she was never more than a hulk, and in 1806 she was broken up.[4]

External links

References

  1. The number of guns was reported to be 36 or even 40. Study of the wreck confirms that the Bellone had 32.
  2. "Naval Database - HMS Melampus". http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/M/02977.html. Retrieved 2008-02-19. 
  3. "Naval Database - HMS Ethalion". http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/E/01661.html. Retrieved 2008-02-19. 
  4. "Age of Nelson Website - HMS Proserpine". http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=1802. Retrieved 2008-02-19.