French frigate Consolante (1775)

History
France
Name	Consolante
Namesake	"Consoling"
Ordered	6 February 1772 [1]
Builder	Lorient
Laid down	April 1772 [1]
Launched	1 December 1774 [1]
In service	1776 [1]
Out of service	1784 [1]
Fate	Broken up 1804
General characteristics
Class and type	Pourvoyeuse-class frigate
Displacement	840 tonnes [1]
Length	50 m (164 ft 1 in) [1]
Beam	12.3 m (40 ft 4 in) [1]
Draught	6.3 m (20 ft 8 in) [1]
Armament	Main deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns Forecastle: 12 × 8-pounder guns [1]

Consolante was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, second ship of her class. She is notable as one of the earliest attempts at building a frigate armed with 24-pounders on the artillery deck, rather than the 18-pounders typical of the day.

Career

Although Consolante was designed to carry 24-pounders on her battery, on 2 February 1776 Lorient was ordered to arm her with 18-pounder long guns. ^[1]

On 4 April 1777, Captain Boudin de Tromelin took command. ^[2]

In 1778, she was sent to India under Captain La Motte-Vauvert, and was part of the defences of Isle de France (Mauritius). ^[1]

On 31 May 1782, Bussy-Castelnau arrived at Isle de France with the 74-gun Illustre and the 64-gun Saint Michel. ^[3] Informed that Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves had left the island on 7 December 1781 with his squadron to attack Trincomalee, Bussy decided to attach Consolante to his squadron, as well as 800 men from the garrison which he embarked on 9 transports, and go reinforce him. ^[4]

From 1781, she was part of the squadron under Suffren. ^[1] She took part in the Battle of Trincomalee, where her commanding officer, Lieutenant de Péan, was killed. ^{[1] [5]}

At the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783, he was under Pierre Alexandre Pastour de Costebelle.

Fate

Consolante was hulked in 1784 in Brest, and broken up in 1804. ^[1]

Citations

1. Roche (2005), p. 125.
2. "Bernard-Marie Boudin (Seigneur de Tromelin)". Three Decks' Forum. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
3. Cunat (1852), p. 186.
4. Cunat (1852), p. 187.
5. Cunat (1852), p. 235.

References

• Cunat, Charles (1852). Histoire du Bailli de Suffren. Rennes: A. Marteville et Lefas. p. 447.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN   978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC   165892922.