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French frigate Minerve (1794)
Encyclopedia
The Minerve was a 40-gun frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
. She was captured twice by the British and recaptured once by the French. She therefore served under four names:
- Minerve, 1794–1795
- HMS Minerve, 1795–1803
- Canonnière, 1803–1810
- HMS Confiance, 1810–1814
French service as Minerve
Her keel was laid in January 1792, and she was launched in 1794. She took part in combat off NoliNoli
Noli |Ligurian]] Nöi ) is a coast comune of Liguria, Italy, in the Province of Savona, it is about SW of Genoa by rail, about 4 m above sea-level. It has a population of 2,957. In 1901, it had a population of 1,985...
. On 23 June 1795, she and the 36-gun Artémise
French frigate Artémise (1794)
The Artémise was a Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy.She was under construction as Aurore in Toulon when the British seized the city...
engaged the frigates HMS Dido
HMS Dido (1784)
HMS Dido was one of the twenty-seven Enterprise class of 28-gunsixth-rate frigates in service with the Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Dido was commissioned in September 1787 under the command of Captain Charles Sandys...
and Lowestoffe
HMS Lowestoffe (1761)
HMS Lowestoffe was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built during the latter part of the Seven Years' War, she went on to see action in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary War, and served often in the Caribbean...
. She surrendered to the British, Artémise having fled, and was commissioned in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
as HMS Minerve.
British service as HMS Minerve
On 19 December 1796, Minerve, under the command of Captain Cockburne, was involved in an action with HMS BlancheHMS Blanche (1786)
HMS Blanche was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was ordered towards the end of the American War of Independence, but only briefly saw service before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793. She enjoyed a number of successful cruises against privateers...
against the Spanish frigates Santa Sabina and Ceres. Minerve captured the Santa Sabina, which lost 164 men killed and wounded. Minerve herself lost eight killed, 38 wounded and four missing. Minerve also suffered extensive damage to her masts and rigging. Blanche went off in pursuit of Ceres. Early the next morning a Spanish frigate approached Minerve, which made ready to engage. However, two Spanish ships of the line and two more frigates approached. Skillful sailing enabled Cockburne to escape with Minerve but the Spaniards recaptured Santa Sabina and her prize crew.
In the evening of 2 July 1803 during a fog, Minerve, then under the command of Captain Jahleel Brenton
Jahleel Brenton
Sir Jahleel Brenton, 1st baronet, KCB was a British admiral born in Newport, Rhode Island, British North America.-Early life:...
, ran aground near Cherbourg. She had been pursuing some merchant vessels when she hit. The guns of two nearby forts immediately took her under fire and several French gunvessels plus the brigs Chiffonne and Terrible joined in the attack. Minerves crew attempted to refloat her, but the fire forced Brenton to surrender after she had lost 12 men killed and about 15 men wounded. The French took Minerve back into their service under the name Canonnière.
French service as Canonnière
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
(now Mauritius), where she took part in various cruises under Captain César-Joseph Bourayne
César-Joseph Bourayne
Counter Amiral des Armées Navales César-Joseph de Bourayne, later Baron Bourayne, was a French naval officer, famous for his battles against British ships in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea...
, notably fighting an inconclusive action on 21 April against the 74-gun HMS Tremendous
HMS Tremendous
HMS Tremendous was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 October 1784 at Deptford.Throughout May 1794 Tremendous, whilst under the command of Captain James Pigott, participated in the campaign which culminated in the Battle of the Glorious First of June...
and the 50-gun HMS Hindostan
HMS Hindostan (1804)
HMS Hindostan was a 50-gun two-decker fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally a teak-built East Indiaman named Admiral Rainier that the Royal Navy brought into service in May 1804...
. She captured HMS Laurel on 12 September 1808, off the Île de France.
She returned to Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
in late March 1809 http://pagesperso-orange.fr/marine-imperiale/chronologie/1803/07_03.htm. 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 as HMS Confiance
It was during this transit that HMS ValiantHMS Valiant (1807)
HMS Valiant was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 24 January 1807 at Blackwall Yard.On 17 June 1813, Valiant was in company with when they came upon in pursuit of an American brig off Cape Sable. The three British ships continued the chase for another 100 miles...
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.