French frigate Minerve (1794)
| File:Capture of Minerve off Toulon.jpg Capture of Minerve off Toulon | |
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Minerve |
| Builder: | Toulon |
| Laid down: | January 1792 |
| Launched: | 5 September 1794 |
| Captured: | 23 June 1795 by the Royal Navy |
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
| Name: | HMS Minerve |
| Acquired: | 23 June 1795 |
| Captured: | 3 July 1803 by the French Navy |
| Career (France) |  |
| Name: | Canonnière |
| Acquired: | 3 July 1803 |
| Renamed: |
Canonnière in August 1806 |
| Captured: | 3 February 1810 by the Royal Navy |
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
| Name: | HMS Confiance |
| Acquired: | 3 February 1810 |
| Fate: | Struck from navy lists by 1814 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 700 tonnes |
| Length: | 48.4 m (159 ft) |
| Beam: | 12.2 m (40 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.6 m (18 ft) |
| Armament: |
As built
|
The Minerve was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy
Her keel was laid in January 1792, and she was launched in 1794. She took part in combat off Noli. On 23 June 1795, she and the 36-gun Artémise engaged the frigates HMS Dido and Lowestoffe. She surrendered to the British, Artémise having fled, and was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Minerve.
British service
On 19 December 1796, Minerve was involved in an action with HMS Blanche against the Spanish frigates Santa Sabina and Ceres.[1] The Minerve captured the Santa Sabina, but though the Blanche forced the Ceres to surrender, she was unable to secure her prize and Ceres subsequently escaped.[1]
In July 1803, she ran aground near Cherbourg while under the command of Jahleel Brenton. The British attempted to refloat her, but the fire from shore batteries and the gunboats Chiffonne and Terrible eventually forced Brenton to surrender. The French took Minerve back into their service under the name Canonnière.
French service
In 1806, she was based in Île de France (now Mauritius), where she took part in various cruises under Captain César-Joseph Bourayne[2][3], notably fighting an inconclusive action on 21 April against the 74-gun HMS Tremendous and the 50-gun HMS Hindostan. She captured HMS Laurel on 12 September 1808, off the Île de France.
She returned to Mauritius in late March 1809 [1]. As she required repairs beyond those possible in Mauritius, the French eventually sent her back to France in a semi-armed state under the name Confiance.
British service
It was during this transit that HMS Valiant recaptured her on 3 February 1810; she then briefly re-entered the Royal Navy as HMS Confiance. She never returned to active service however, and was deleted from navy lists in 1814.[4][5]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Winfield. British Warships in the Age of Sail. p. 186.
- ↑ Les combats de la Canonnière
- ↑ Naval history of Great Britain, by William James
- ↑ Winfield. British Warships in the Age of Sail. p. 149.
- ↑ Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 227.
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- James, William (1860). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.. 1. R. Bentley.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
External links
- The Capture of Mauritius in 1810
- (French) Les bâtiments ayant porté le nom de Minerve, Netmarine.net
