Service history
On 27 February 1809, along Pénélope, she captured the 32-gun HMS Proserpine. [1] In October 1809, she sailed from Toulon to escort a convoy bound for Barcelona. Chased by a British squadron under Admiral Collingwood during the Battle of Maguelone, and sailing with Borée, she managed to repel and escape HMS Tigre and HMS Leviathan, and returned to Toulon after Amélie joined up.
Pauline was then used for convoy escort in the Mediterranean. She took part in the action of 29 November 1811, fleeing the battle while frigate Pomone and the smaller Persanne were captured by the British. Her commanding officer, Captain François-Gilles Montfort, was subsequently court-martialled and relieved of command.
On 11 April 1814, she was renamed Bellone. She took part in the landing at Sidi Ferruch during the Invasion of Algiers in 1830, and used as a ferry the following years.
Julien Marie Cosmao-Kerjulien was a French Navy officer, admiral, best remembered for his role in the Battle of Trafalgar.
Baron Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin was a rear admiral of the French navy and later a Baron. He commanded numerous naval expeditions and battles with the Royal Navy as well as exploratory voyages in the Indian Ocean and the South Seas.
Bernard Dubourdieu was a French rear-admiral who led the allied French-Venetian forces at the Battle of Lissa in 1811, during which he was killed.
Count Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume was a French Navy officer and Vice-admiral.
Tigre was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Later it was captured by the British and, as HMS Tigre, operated as part of the Royal Navy throughout the Napoleonic Wars.
The Sémillante was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was involved in a number of multi-vessel actions against the Royal Navy, particularly in the Indian Ocean. She captured a number of East Indiamen before she became so damaged that the French disarmed her and turned her into a merchant vessel. The British captured her and broke her up in 1809.
William Mounsey CB was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American Revolutionary, the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, rising to the rank of Captain.
Amélie was a 46-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy.
HMS Topaze was a Royal Navy 32-gun frigate, originally completed in 1791 as a French Magicienne-class frigate. In 1793 Lord Hood's fleet captured her at Toulon. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1814.
HMS Argo was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1781 from Howdon Dock. The French captured her in 1783, but 36 hours later the British recaptured her. She then distinguished herself in the French Revolutionary Wars by capturing several prizes, though she did not participate in any major actions. She also served in the Napoleonic Wars. She was sold in 1816.
Several Royal Navy ships have borne the name HMS Proserpine:
Hortense was a 40-gun Hortense-class frigate and lead vessel of her class of the French Navy.
Borée was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
HMS Alcmene was a 32-gun Alcmene-class fifth rate of the Royal Navy. This frigate served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars under the command of several notable officers. Alcmene was active in several theatres of the war, spending most of her time cruising in search of enemy vessels or privateers, and escorting convoys. She fought at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 and served in the blockade of the French coasts during the later Napoleonic Wars until she was wrecked on the French coast in 1809.
François-André Baudin was a French naval officer. His nephew Auguste Baudin was a colonial governor and naval officer.
The Pénélope was a 44-gun Armide-class frigate of the French Navy.
The action of 27 February 1809 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars. Two 44-gun frigates, Pénélope and Pauline, sortied from Toulon harbour to chase a British frigate, HMS Proserpine, which was conducting surveillance of French movements. First sneaking undetected and later trying to pass herself as a British frigate coming to relieve Proserpine, Pénélope approached within gun range before being identified. With the help of Pauline, she subdued Proserpine and forced her to surrender after a one-hour fight.
HMS Proserpine was a 44-gun Amphion-class frigate of the Royal Navy. The French Navy captured her off Toulon about a year after her commissioning and took her into service as Proserpine. She served in various capacities such as a frigate, troopship, hospital ship, and prison hulk until 1865.
HMS Melpomene was a 38-gun frigate of the Royal Navy. Originally a French vessel, she was captured at Calvi on 10 August 1794 and first saw British service in the English Channel, where she helped to contain enemy privateering. In October 1798, she chased a French frigate squadron sent to find the French fleet under Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, that was routed at the Battle of Tory Island and in August 1799, she joined Andrew Mitchell's squadron for the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.
The Battle of Maguelone was a minor naval action that occurred in late October 1809, during the Peninsular War, between the escort of a French convoy, comprising three ships of the line and two frigates, and a six-ship squadron of the Royal Navy. In a running battle, the French covered the retreat of the convoy and attempted to escape by sailing in shallow waters close to the shore of Maguelone. After two of the ships of the line ran aground, their crews evacuated them and scuttled them by fire after removing valuable equipment, including the artillery. The remaining ship and frigates made good their escape to Toulon. A British cutting-out party attacked the convoy in Baie des Roses on 1 November, destroying most of it and capturing three ships.
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