In 1769, Hippopotame was at Saint Domingue and Martinique under Vaudreuil, along with Solitaire,[6] ferrying troops to the French colonies in the Caribbeans.[7]
In April 1777, the Navy sold her to Roderigue Hortalez and Company,[2] a company founded by Pierre Beaumarchais. He renamed her Fier Rodrigue and from 1778,[8] he used her to ferry weapons to the American insurgents.[1] She departed Rochefort in January 1778, sailed to Saint-Domingue and America, and was back in Rochefort on 1 October. [9]
In early 1779, she departed Rochefort to sail to Brest and Ile d'Aix. She departed Ile d'Aix around April, and sail to America.[9]
In July 1779, Fier Rodrigue was escorting a 10-ship convoy near Grenada. On 6, she encountered the fleet under d'Estaing, preparing for battle. the French Navy requisitioned her and she took part in the ensuing Battle of Grenada. Her captain, Montault, was killed,[1][10] and 22-year old auxiliary officer Ganteaume[11][12][13][14]
The requisition of Fier Rodrigue caused several ships of Beaumarchais' convoy to be captured. Beaumarchais protested and sought compensation from the French Crown. [15]
Around August 1779, Fier Rodrigue was used as a hospital ship in Charlestown,[2] to support the Siege of Savannah.[9] Two month later, the Navy returned her to Beaumarchais. [2]
Fier Rodrigue called the Chesapeake and Yorktown, from where she departed on 14 August 1780, bound for Rochefort.[9] On 1 August 1780, Fier Rodrigue arrived at Île de Ré, escorting a 15-ship convoy from New England, as well as two prizes captured from the British.[16]
Fate
Fier Rodrigue was condemned in March 1782,[9] and was broken up in Rochefort in 1784.[1][9]
Desmarais, Norman (2019). America's First Ally: France in the Revolutionary War. Oxford: Philadelphia Casemate. ISBN9781612007014. OCLC1121487606.
Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine de Louis XVI: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 à 1792 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN2-906381-23-3.
Humble, Richard (2019). Napoleon's Admirals: Flag Officers of the Arc de Triomphe, 1789-1815. Oxford: Philadelphia Casemate. ISBN9781612008080. OCLC1146049972.
Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671 - 1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. pp. 325–6. ISBN978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC165892922.
Schaeper, Thomas J. (1995). France and America in the Revolutionary Era: The Life of Jacques-Donatien Leray de Chaumont, 1725-1803. Berghahn Books. ISBN9781571810502. OCLC470608984.