French frigate Alceste (1780)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small}  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 8 June 1794 |
| History | |
 Frankreich | |
| Name | Alceste |
| Acquired | 8 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 | list error: <br /> list (help) 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 in the Action of 8 June 1794. 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; the British, who supported the royalists, seized her and transferred her to the Kingdom of Sardinia before the conclusion of the Siege of Toulon.
The 32-gun Boudeuse recaptured her in the Action of 8 June 1794. The French then took her back into French service. Under Captain Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille, she was part of Admiral Martin's squadron, which captured HMS Berwick in 1795.
From 31 March 1795Alceste was commanded by Jean Joseph Hubert. She took part in the Battle of Hyères Islands, where she battled several British ships before rescueing Alcide.[1]
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 under Jean-Baptiste Barré, ferrying General Jean Reynier, and was later appointed to a squadron under Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée, which also comprised the frigates Junon and Alceste, and Courageuse, and the brigs Salamine and Alerte. In the Action of 18 June 1799, HMS Bellona captured Alceste.
Fate
The Royal Navy commissioned Alceste under Commander Thomas Bayley, who shortly thereafter received promotion to post captain in March 1800. She arrived at Chatham on 4 April.[2] She was registered as a sloop in July 1801 and fitted as a floating battery in August.[3] She was sold at Sheerness on 20 May 1802 for £1,445.[2]
See also
Citations
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.