The French frigate Aigle was launched in 1780 as a privateer. The French Navy purchased her in 1782, but the British captured her that same year and took her into the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rateHMS Aigle. During the French Revolutionary Wars she served primarily in the Mediterranean, where she was wrecked in 1798.
Aigle was built as Saint-Malo as a privateer, and had a private career under Jean Dalbarade. The French Navy purchased her from shipowner Clonard for 450,000 Livres.[3] Adapting the privateer to Navy standard was not trivial: she came armed with 28 British 24-pounder long guns, which had to be rebored or replaced to fire the larger French 24-pounder cannonballs, the weight of the French pound being heavier than the British pound.[3] Her hull was coppered at Rochefort before she was commissioned in the Navy. [4]
In early 1782, Captain Latouche assumed command of Aigle, which, along with the frigate Gloire under Captain de Vallongue,[5] ferried funds and equipment for the fleet of Admiral Vaudreuil. The ship had a number of guests, among whom Gontaut de Lauzun, Vioménil, Montmorency-Laval, Chabannes, Vauban, Melfort, Talleyrand-Périgord, Champcenetz, Mac-Mahon, Fleury and American Major Porter. [6]Gloire was similarly crowded with guests. Latouche had requested permission to bring along fast merchantmen to carry luggage, but Minister Castries denied his request. Nevertheless, the 22-gun merchantman Sophie, carrying Latouche's mistress, followed the division.[7] Slower than the warships, she was in tow of Aigle for most of the cruise, and at night Latouche had the division stop to spend the night with his mistress. Vallongue wrote a letter to Castrie to protest.[8] The division stopped at the Bay of Angra for three days, after which Sophie detached from the division, around 5 August.[9]
On their way, Aigle and Gloire skirmished with the 74-gun HMS Hector in the night Action of 5 September 1782; Hector was sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia with a prize crew, under Captain John Bourchier,[10] in a convoy under Rear-admiral Graves. Hector was saved from captured when the morning revealed the rest of the convoy and Latouche decided to retreat.[11][12]
Aigle and Gloire captured HMSRacoon off the Delaware River on 12 September 1782.[10] The following day, a small British squadron consisting of HMSVestal, HMSBonetta, and the prize Sophie, led by Captain G.K. Elphinston in HMSWarwick, sighted the three vessels anchored in the Delaware River off Cape Henlopen Light. The British set out in chase, but the French were able to navigate the sandbanks with the help of Racoon's pilot, who agreed to help the French for a payment of 500 Louis d'or. Still, Aigle ran aground, which enabled the British to capture her, and with her all of Racoon's crew. Aigle had had on board some senior French officers, who escaped ashore, as did the now-wealthy pilot.[lower-alpha 1] Latouche had cut away her masts in an attempt to lighten her, and when that failed, had had holes bored in her hull. He remained with her and struck her colours on 15 September.[lower-alpha 2] Despite the attempts to scuttle Aigle, the British were able to refloat her and took her into service under her own name. Gloire and Racoon escaped.[13]
British career
The British commissioned Aigle under Captain Richard Creyk in December 1782 for the Leeward Islands station. She was paid off in August 1783.[14]
In December 1792 Captain John Nicholson Inglefield commissioned Agile. On 7 April 1793 he sailed for the Mediterranean.[14] Shortly thereafter, the British were dissatisfied with the actions of the neutral Genoa, in allowing the French frigate Modeste and two French tartanes to 'insult' and 'molest' Aigle while she was also in Genoa.
On 10 August 1794, Aigle was present at the surrender of Calvi, on the island of Corsica. She therefore shared in the first grant of £6000 in prize money.[15]
In 1795 Captain Samuel Hood took command. On 9 December 1795, the French frigate Sensible and corvette Sardine captured Nemesis while she was at anchor in the neutral port of Smyrna. Nemesis did not resist but Samuel Hood Linzee, captain of Nemesis, protested the illegality of the action. The British frigates Aigle and Cyclops blockaded the three ships until Ganteaume's squadron drove the British ships off. The French sailed Nemesis to Tunis in January 1796, but the British recaptured her on 9 March. Samuel Hood's replacement, in April 1797, was Captain Charles Tyler.[14][lower-alpha 3]
In 1797 Aigle captured several French privateers. On 13 June she captured a brig of six guns and 24 men off Lisbon. The vessel was eight days out of Bordeaux, on her way to Île de France.[16]
On 16 April, Aigle was in company with Boston when Boston captured the French privateer Enfant de la Patrie.[17]Enfant de la Patrie was armed with 16 guns and had a crew of 130 men. She surrendered after a chase of six hours, and after her captain, who reportedly was drunk, had fired at Boston and run into her, with the result that five of his men were killed, he himself drowned, and ten men were wounded.[18]
On 12 June, Aigle and Boston captured the French brig Henrietté.[19]Henrietté (or Hariotte), was a privateer of six guns.[14]
Then on 30 July, she, with Boston in company, captured the French privateer lugger Hazard of eight guns and 50 men. Hazard was from Bayonne, but on this cruise she had last left Corunna. She had made no captures. Then on 13 August Aigle captured the French privateer lugger La Manche (or La Mouche), of eight guns and eight swivel guns, and 49 men. She was 13 days out of Nantes and had made no captures.[20] She was sent into Lisbon and sold there.[21] Four days later, Tyler observed two vessels sailing out of the Bay of Lax. He ordered his lugger to cut them out. The weather prevented the lugger from bringing one out, a brig, so Tyler had her cargo of rice taken out and then burnt the vessel, which was Spanish, bound for Corunna.[20]
On 13 October, Aigle and Boston captured the Spanish packet shipPatagon. She was sent into Lisbon and sold there.[21]
At the end of November, on the 30th, Aigle captured a French privateer of four guns and 52 men. She had taken three English merchant vessels and sent one into Lachs Bay. Tyler sent Aigle's master, Mr. Tritton, with 20 men to bring her out.[22] She turned out to be the Requin.[23] That same evening they also captured a Spanish ship with a cargo of sardines, and sent her into Lisbon.[22]
The day after Christmas, Aigle was in company with Aurora chased three vessels into the bay of Corunna, where they captured their quarry. Tyler left Aurora in charge of the prizes while he chased a strange sail. When he got back, he discovered that one had capsized, but her crew had been saved. The two remaining prizes were carrying hemp, coals, and nails.[22]
On 4 January 1798 Aigle captured a French privateer off the coast of Corunna. The privateer carried 20 guns and crew of 90 men. She was eight days out of Lorient and had not made any captures. Tyler noted that the prize was coppered and a fast sailer.[24] She turned out to be Minerve.[23]
On 13 January Gorgon captured the French privateer Henri, from Nantes. She carried 14 guns, five of which she had thrown overboard during the chase. She also had a crew of 108 men. She had been cruising for five days but had taken nothing. Captain Richard Williams of Gorgon put a prize crew aboard and took her with him into Lisbon. The prize crew consisted mostly of 16 men from Aigle, plus Mr. Tritton.[25]
Fate
Aigle was under Tyler's command when she was wrecked on 19 August 1798 on Plane Island off Cape Farina, Tunisia, due to an error in navigation. All the crew were saved.[26] Tyler was also acquitted of the loss.
Notes
↑ The French officers who escaped included "Baron Viomini" [sic] (commander of the French army), Mons. La Va de Montmerancy, Duke Laurun, Viscount de Fleury, and some others. They took most of the treasure she was carrying, as well.
↑ Latouche was freed when the peace was signed in 1783.
HMS Galatea was a fifth-rate 32-gun sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy that George Parsons built at Bursledon and launched in 1794. Before she was broken up in 1809 she captured numerous prizes and participated in a number of actions, first in the Channel and off Ireland (1794–1803), and then in the Caribbean (1802–1809), including one that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal.
HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent-class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions. She was broken up in 1816.
HMS Astraea was a 32-gun fifth rate Active-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Fabian at E. Cowes launched her in 1781, and she saw action in the American War of Independence as well as during the Napoleonic Wars. She is best known for her capture of the larger French frigate Gloire in a battle on 10 April 1795, while under the command of Captain Lord Henry Paulet. She was wrecked on 23 March 1808 off the coast of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands.
Louis-René Madelaine Le Vassor, comte de La Touche-Tréville was a French admiral. He fought in the American War of Independence and became a prominent figure of the French Revolutionary Wars and of the Napoleonic wars.
Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Racoon, after the raccoon:
HMS Melampus was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate that served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes before the British sold her to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1815. With the Dutch, she participated in a major action at Algiers and, then, in a number of colonial punitive expeditions in the Dutch East Indies.
Hermione was a 32-gun Concorde-class frigate of the French Navy. Designed for speed, she was one of the first ships of the French Navy to receive a copper sheathing. At the beginning of the Anglo-French War of 1778, she patrolled in the Bay of Biscay, escorting convoys and chasing privateers. She became famous when she ferried General La Fayette to the United States in 1780 in support of the rebels in the American Revolutionary War. She took an incidental role in the Battle of Cape Henry on 16 March 1781, and a major one in the action of 21 July 1781.
Sibylle was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1791 at the dockyards in Toulon and placed in service in 1792. After the 50-gun fourth rate HMS Romney captured her in 1794, the British took her into service as HMS Sybille. She served in the Royal Navy until disposed of in 1833. While in British service, Sybille participated in three notable single-ship actions, in each case capturing a French vessel. On anti-slavery duties off West Africa from July 1827 to June 1830, Sybille captured many slavers and freed some 3,500 slaves. She was finally sold in 1833 in Portsmouth.
Minerve was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She operated in the Mediterranean during the French Revolutionary Wars. Her crew scuttled her at Saint-Florent to avoid capture when the British invaded Corsica in 1794, but the British managed to raise her and recommissioned her in the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS St Fiorenzo.
HMS Nemesis was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The French captured her in 1795 at Smyrna, but in 1796 a squadron led by Barfleur brought her out of the neutral port of Tunis. Throughout her career she served under a number of commanders who would go on to have distinguished careers. She was converted to a troopship in 1812 and was sold in 1814.
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, British vessels captured at least 12 French warships and privateers named Espoir, which means “Hope” in French. In only one case was there mention of an exchange of fire or casualties. In general, the privateers tried to escape, and failing that surrendered.
HMS Brilliant was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Brilliant was first commissioned in July 1779 under the command of Captain John Ford.
HMS Racoon was a brig-sloop built and launched in 1795. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars and in the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. She had an active career under several captains, working essentially independently while capturing or destroying some 20 enemy privateers and naval vessels. Several of the captures involved engagements that resulted in casualties on Racoon as well as on her opponents. She was broken up early in 1806.
Comte de Maurepas was a common name for French vessels in the 18th century. The name comes from that of the French statesman Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas.
HMS Netley was launched in 1798 with an experimental design. During the French Revolutionary Wars she spent some years on the Oporto station, where she captured many small privateers. The French captured her in 1806, early in the Napoleonic Wars. They lengthened her and she became the 17-gun privateer Duquesne. In 1807 the British recaptured her and the Royal Navy returned her to service as the 12-gun gun-brig HMS Unique. She was expended in an unsuccessful fire ship attack at Guadeloupe in 1809.
The action of 15 September 1782 was a naval action in the mouth of the Delaware Bay in which four Royal Naval vessels under the command of George Elphinstone pursued and attacked three French warships that included two frigates under the command of Comte de la Touche Tréville. The French 38-gun frigate Aigle was grounded and captured along with the Comte de la Touche.
Etna was a French naval Etna-class ship-sloop launched in 1795 that the Royal Navy captured in November 1796. She was taken into service as HMS Aetna and renamed to HMS Cormorant the next year. She captured several merchant vessels and privateers before she was wrecked in 1800 off the coast of Egypt.
The action of 5 September 1782 took place during the American War of Independence between two French Navy frigates, Aigle and Gloire, and a lone British 74-gun ship of the line HMS Hector. In a two-day battle, the two frigates severely damaged Hector and failed to capture her only when a British squadron appeared on the horizon. The French withdrew, but Hector foundered a few days later after the 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane.
HMS Hound was a brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She had a short history. After her launch in 1796 she captured two privateers and destroyed a third before she was lost in 1800.
HMS Racoon was a 14-gun two-masted brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, purchased for service during the American Revolutionary War. She was commissioned in August 1782 under the command of Lieutenant Edmund Nagle, but was captured and destroyed four weeks later by the French frigate Aigle.
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
France
Great Britain
