French frigate Aréthuse (1791)

History
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameAréthuse
NamesakeArethusa
BuilderBrest
Laid down14 March 1789
Launched3 March 1791
CapturedBy royalist rioters, 29 August 1793
FateHanded over to the Royal Navy
Great Britain
NameArethuse
Acquired19 September 1793
RenamedHMS Undaunted, July 1795
FateWrecked, August 1796
General characteristics
Displacement790 tonnes
Length46.2 metres (152 ft)
Beam11.9 metres (39 ft 1 in)
Depth5.5 metres (18 ft 1 in)
PropulsionSails
Armament40 guns

Aréthuse was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, built from 1789 following plans by Ozanne.[1]

Career

She was launched on 3 March 1791, and served in the Mediterranean under Captain Bouvet.[1]

In 1793, she cruised off the Pyrenees, along with the 40-gun frigate Topaze.[2]

During the Siege of Toulon, Royalist rioters surrendered Aréthuse to the British. She escaped to Portoferraio when the city fell, and was brought into Royal Navy service as HMS Arethuse.[1]

In July 1795, she was renamed HMS Undaunted.[1]

On 9 February 1796, she sailed for the Leeward Islands under the command of Henry Roberts. She then joined Captain Thomas Parr, in the fourth rate HMS Malabar, as part of the squadron that occupied the Dutch colonies of Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice in April and May.[3][4]

On 27 August 1796, under the command of Robert Winthrop, she was wrecked on the Morant Cays in the West Indies.[3]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Roche, Jean-Michel (2012). "Bâtiments ayant porté le nom d'Aréthuse". netmarine.net. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  2. ^ Roche (2005), p. 441.
  3. ^ a b "NMM, vessel ID 378036" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol xi. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  4. ^ Clowes, William Laird (1899). The Royal Navy: A History From the Earliest Times to the Present. Vol. IV. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company. p. 291. Retrieved 3 April 2013.

References

  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). "ARETHUSE - Frégate de 40 canons (1792 - 1793)". Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. Toulon: Roche. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.