French frigate Hortense (1803)

Last updated
Flore-IMG 2242.jpg
Model of Hortense, on display at Toulon naval museum
History
Civil and Naval Ensign of France.svgFrance
NameHortense
Launched30 July 1803
FateCondemned 25 November 1840
General characteristics
Class and type Hortense-class frigate
Displacement1350 (French tons)
Length48.75 m (159.9 ft)
Beam12.2 m (40 ft)
Draught5.9 m (19 ft)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan Ship
Armament

Hortense was a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate and lead vessel of her class of the French Navy.

Contents

The Acheron leads the Hortense away (far left) at Cape Palos, 4 February 1805 Cape Palos, 1805 RCIN 735116.jpg
The Acheron leads the Hortense away (far left) at Cape Palos, 4 February 1805

In January 1805, under the command of Captain Delamarre de Lamellerie, she and Incorruptible were sent to observe British movements off Toulon. On 4 February they attacked a convoy, destroying seven ships. Three days later, they encountered another convoy escorted by the 20-gun sloop HMS Arrow and the 8-gun bomb vessel HMS Acheron; the French frigates destroyed the two Royal Navy vessels and captured and burnt Duchess of Rutland and two other merchant vessels of the convoy.

Then on 12 May 1805, Hortense and Hermione captured the 18-gun ship-sloop HMS Cyane. Cyane was cruising between Barbados and Martinique when she encountered a French fleet under Admiral Villeneuve. Hortense and Hermione so out-gunned Cyane that her captain, Commander George Cadogan, had no choice but to strike his colours. [1]

Hortense took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre, in the Battle of Trafalgar and in Lamellerie's expedition.

In 1814, she was renamed to Flore.

Citations

  1. Hepper (1994), p. 111.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Ajax</i> (1798) British ship of the line (1801–1807)

HMS Ajax was an Ajax-class 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She was built by John Randall & Co of Rotherhithe and launched on the Thames on 3 March 1798. Ajax participated in the Egyptian operation of 1801, the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805 and the Battle of Trafalgar, before she was lost to a disastrous fire in 1807 during the Dardanelles Operation.

HMS <i>Apollo</i> (1799) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Apollo, the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to be named for the Greek god Apollo, was a fifth-rate frigate of a nominal 36 guns. She was the name ship of the Apollo-class frigates. Apollo was launched in 1799, and wrecked with heavy loss of life in 1804.

French frigate <i>Surveillante</i> (1778)

Surveillante was an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy. She took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, where she became famous for her battle with HMS Quebec; in 1783, she brought the news that the war was over to America. She later took part in the French Revolutionary Wars, and was eventually scuttled during the Expédition d'Irlande after sustaining severe damage in a storm. The wreck was found in 1979 and is now a memorial.

Coquille was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, and launched in 1794. The Royal Navy captured her in October 1798 and took her into service as HMS Coquille, but an accidental fire destroyed her in December 1798.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Cadogan, 3rd Earl Cadogan</span> British Royal Navy officer and earl

Admiral George Cadogan, 3rd Earl Cadogan, CB was a British Royal Navy officer and politician of the mid-nineteenth century who first gained fame for his service in the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars in command of HMS Havannah. Cadogan later served as aide-de-camp to successive British monarchs and received promotion to full admiral.

French ship <i>Glorieux</i> (1756) Ship of the line of the French Navy

Glorieux was a 74-gun ship of the line in the French Navy. Built by Clairin Deslauriers at Rochefort and launched on 10 August 1756, she was rebuilt in 1777.

Lamellerie's expedition was a French naval operation launched in February 1806. Four French Navy frigates and a brig, all survivors of the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, attempted to break past the British blockade of Cadiz on 23 February 1806, taking advantage of the withdrawal of the principal blockade squadron several months earlier at the start of the Atlantic campaign of 1806. Although the squadron was intercepted by elements of the British blockade force, Captain Louis-Charles-Auguste Delamarre de Lamellerie escaped with the four frigates by abandoning the slower brig, which was captured. During the next six months, Lamellerie's squadron cruised the Atlantic, visiting Senegal, Cayenne and the West Indies but failing to cause any significant disruption to British trade.

French frigate <i>Incorruptible</i> (1795)

Incorruptible was a 40-gun Romaine-class frigate of the French Navy.

French frigate <i>Hermione</i> (1804) French Navy vessel

Hermione was a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1804 and wrecked in 1808.

French frigate <i>Thémis</i> (1799)

The Thémis was a 40-gun Coquille class frigate of the French Navy.

French brig <i>Furet</i> (1801)

Furet, launched in 1801, was an Abeille-class brig of the French Navy. HMS Hydra captured her on 27 February 1806, off Cadiz.

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.

HMS <i>Sibyl</i> (1779) Enterprise-class Royal Navy frigate

HMS Sibyl was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Sibyl was renamed HMS Garland in 1795.

HMS <i>Arrow</i> (1796) British naval sloop 1796–1805

HMS Arrow was a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy that the Admiralty purchased in 1796. during the French Revolutionary Wars she participated in many actions, including one that resulted in her crew qualifying for the Naval General Service Medal. On 3 February 1805 she and Acheron were escorting a convoy from Malta to England when they encountered two French frigates. Arrow and Acheron were able to save the majority of the vessels of the convoy by their resistance before they were compelled to strike. Arrow sank almost immediately after surrendering, and Acheron was so badly damaged that the French burnt her.

French corvette <i>Etna</i> (1795)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis-Charles-Auguste Delamarre de Lamellerie</span>

Louis-Charles-Auguste Delamarre, vicomte de Lamellerie was a French Navy officer and captain.

HMS <i>Acheron</i> (1803) Ship launched at Whitby in 1799

HMS Acheron was the mercantile New Grove, launched at Whitby in 1799, that the Admiralty purchased in 1803 and fitted as a bomb-vessel. She served in the Mediterranean for about a year. On 3 February 1805 she and Arrow were escorting a convoy from Malta to England when they encountered two French frigates. Arrow and Acheron were able to save the majority of the vessels of the convoy by their resistance before they were compelled to strike. Arrow sank almost immediately after surrendering, and Acheron was so badly damaged that the French burnt her. However, the British vessels' self- sacrifice enabled almost all the vessels of the convoy to escape.

HMS <i>Ceres</i> (1777) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Ceres was an 18-gun sloop launched in 1777 for the British Royal Navy that the French captured in December 1778 off Saint Lucia. The French Navy took her into service as Cérès. The British recaptured her in 1782 and renamed her HMS Raven, only to have the French recapture her again early in 1783. The French returned her name to Cérès, and she then served in the French Navy until sold at Brest in 1791.

HMS Allegiance was the American vessel King George, which the British captured in 1779 and brought into the Royal Navy as a sloop armed with fourteen 6-pounder guns. The French captured her in 1782, and the British recaptured her in 1783, but did not take her back into service.

HMS <i>Musquito</i> (1798) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Musquito was a 16-gun ship-sloop, previously the French privateer Magicienne or Petite Magicienne. The Royal Navy captured her in March 1798. After the Spanish captured Musquito in September 1798, she served in the Spanish Navy until she was broken up in 1805.

References