French frigate Courageuse (1778) | |
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Career (France) | ![]() ![]() |
Name: | Courageuse |
Builder: | Rochefort [1] |
Laid down: | September 1777 [1] |
Launched: | 28 February 1778 [1] |
In service: | April 1778 [1] |
Fate: | Captured June 1799 |
Career (UK) | ![]() |
Name: | HMS Courageuse |
Acquired: | By capture June 1799 |
Fate: | Last listed 1803 |
General characteristics [1][2] | |
Class & type: | Concorde class 12-pounder frigate |
Displacement: | 550 tons |
Tons burthen: | 932 (bm) |
Length: |
145 ft 0 in (44.20 m) (overall); 121 ft 8 in (37.08 m) (keel) |
Beam: | 39 ft 0 in (11.89 m) |
Draught: | 5.78m |
Depth of hold: | 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) |
Complement: | 255 |
Armament: | 26 x 12-pounder long guns + 6 x 6-pounder long guns [1] |
Courageuse was a 12-pounder Concorde class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1778. The British captured her in 1799 and thereafter used her as a prison hulk.
Career[]
In 1790, under Captain[Note 1] de Grasse-Briançon, Courageuse was part of the Toulon squadron under Vice-admiral de Poute de Nieuil.[3] From 2 August, she ferried troops and civil commissioners to Corsica, and cruised in the aera before making a port call to Ajaccio and eventually returning to Toulon on 30 October.[4]
In 1792, under Captain de La Croix de Saint-Vallier, Courageuse sailed off Smyrna, Saloniki and Tripoli, returning to Smyrna on 6 December.[5] In January 1793, she escorted a convoy to Marseille, and from there returned to Toulon, arriving on 12 May.[6]
Courageuse took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver in the winder 1794-1795,[7] under Captain Dalbarade.[8] She was part of the naval division under Rear-admiral Renaudin, which arrived in Toulon on 2 April 1795.[9]
In the summer of 1795, she was part of the station of the Gulf of Roses, under Lieutenant Pourquier,[10][11][Note 2] supporting the Army of the Pyrenees in the Siege of Roses.[12] On 9 July, she defended herself against a Spanish squadron,[13] composed of 16 gunboats, supported by three frigates and two ships of the line; Courageuse, supported by artillery fire from French-held forts, successfully fended off the attack.[12]
In the fleet of Toulon, Courageuse took part in the Mediterranean campaign of 1798; after the Battle of the Nile, she was armed en flûte and ferried supplies for the French Army in Egypt and Syria.[14]
Under Captain Trullet,[1] Courageuse was part of the Syrian naval station under Rear-admiral Perrée.[15] She ferried artillery and ammunition of the French Army besieging Acre; on 9 April 1799, she captured the British gunboat Foudre.[15][Note 3]
HMS Centaur captured Courageuse in the Action of 18 June 1799.[15]
Fate[]
French sources report that Courageuse was used as a prison hulk.[17]
British sources report that the British commissioned Courageuse under Commander John Richards as a receiving ship in the Mediterranean. She was still listed in 1803, but her eventual disposition is unknown.[2]
Notes and references[]
Notes[]
- ↑ "Major de vaisseau"; Fonds Marine, p.22
- ↑ James' Naval History of Great Britain (vol.2 p.263) gives his first name as "Honoré".
- ↑ This is the French gunboat Foudre, of eight guns and 52 men, that Commodore Sir Sidney Smith in HMS Tigre captured on 18 March 1799.[16] The British recaptured her in 1800 and sold her in September 1801.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Roche, p.131
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Winfield (2008), p.209.
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.22
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.26
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.33
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.52
- ↑ Troude, vol.2, p.405
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.121
- ↑ Troude, vol.2, p.408
- ↑ Roche, p.269
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.132
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Troude, vol.2, p.447
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.136
- ↑ Troude, vol.3, p.94
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Fonds Marine, p.229
- ↑ "No. 15149". 18 June 1799. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/15149/page/
- ↑ Fonds Marine, p.240
Bibliography[]
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
- Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867) (in French). Batailles navales de la France. 2. Challamel ainé. http://books.google.com/?id=TwZv6FX-RpsC.
- Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867) (in French). Batailles navales de la France. 3. Challamel ainé. http://books.google.com/?id=rhIR5D5quFYC.
- Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826) [1]
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1861762461.
See also[]
The original article can be found at French frigate Courageuse (1778) and the edit history here.