French frigate Alceste (1780)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Alceste and HMS Alceste.

A Magicienne class frigate
History
Frankreich
Name	Alceste
Ordered	20 April 1780
Builder	Toulon shipyard
Laid down	May 1780
Launched	28 October 1780
Commissioned	February 1781
Captured	by Britain, 29 August 1793
History
Kingdom of Sardinia
Name	Alceste
Acquired	29 August 1793
Captured	By the Boussole on 10 June 1794
History
Frankreich
Name	Alceste
Acquired	10 June 1794
Captured	HMS Bellona, 18 June 1799
History
UK
Name	HMS Alceste
Acquired	18 June 1799
Fate	Floating battery and 1801, broken up in May 1802
General characteristics
Class and type	Magicienne class frigate
Displacement	600 tonnes 5 260 tonnes fully loaded
Length	44.2 metres
Beam	11.2 metres
Draught	5.2 metres (22 French feet)
Armament	26 x 12-pdr long guns + 6 x 6-pdr long guns
Armour	Timber

Alceste was a Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1780, seized by the British at the Siege of Toulon. They transferred her to the Kingdom of Sardinia, but the French recaptured her a year later. The British captured her again at the Action of 18 June 1799 and took her into service as HMS Alceste. In 1801 she became a floating battery and she was sold the next year.

Career

At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Alceste served in the Mediterranean, until she was put in the reserved and disarmed in Toulon. The royalist insurrection found her there, and she was seized by the British and transferred to the Kingdom of Sardinia before the conclusion of the Siege of Toulon.

On 10 June 1794 the 32-gun Boudeuse recaptured her. The French then took her back into French service. Under Captain Le Joille she was part of Admiral Martin's squadron, which captured HMS Berwick in 1795.

In March 1796, Alceste ferried Jean-Baptiste Annibal Aubert du Bayet to his appointment as ambassador to Constantinople, along with military advisors.

From November 1796 to January 1797, Alceste patrolled the coasts of Italy under Captain Jean-François-Timothée Trullet.

She took part in the Expédition d'Égypte, ferrying General Jean Reynier, and was later appointed to a squadron under Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée, which also comprised Junon, Courageuse, Salamine and Alerte. In the Action of 18 June 1799, Perrée's squadron met with a 30-ship fleet under Lord Keith and struck their colours. HMS Bellona accepted Alceste's surrender and she was brought into British service as HMS Alceste.

Fate

In 1801 the British converted HMS Alceste to a floating battery. She was eventually sold for scrap in May 1802.

See also

• List of ships captured in the 18th century
• Glossary of nautical terms

References

• Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005) Dictionnaire des Bâtiments de la Flotte de Guerre Française de Colbert à nos Jours. (Group Retozel-Maury Millau), Vol. 1, p.30.