HMS Madagascar (1811)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Néréide and HMS Madagascar.
HMS Madagascar
Néréide at the action of 20 May 1811 (leftmost ship)
History
French Navy Ensign French Navy Ensign French Navy EnsignFrance
NameNéréide
NamesakeNereid
Ordered28 December 1805
BuilderSaint Malo
Laid downMarch 1806
Launched18 April 1809
Captured26 May 1811
United Kingdom
NameHMS Madagascar
Acquired26 May 1811
FateBroken up 1819
General characteristics
Displacement1,400 tons (French)
Tons burthen1,113 90⁄94 (bm)
PropulsionSail
Complement330–340
Armament
  • French service
  • UD: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • Spardeck: 8 × 8-pounder guns + 8 × 36-pounder carronades
ArmourTimber

HMS Madagascar was a 38-gun Piémontaise-class frigate originally of the French Navy. Her French name had been Néréide, and she had been built to a design by François Pestel.

In 1810 as Néréide, she sailed to Guadeloupe but was repelled by the blockade off Basse-Terre, and returned to Brest after a fight with HMS Rainbow and HMS Avon.

The British captured Néréide during the action of 20 May 1811, and commissioned her into the Royal Navy as HMS Madagascar.

She took part in the Peninsular War against France, and the War of 1812 with the United States.

Madagascar, Vengeur, and Lightning were in company on 6 March 1814 at the recapture of Diamond.[Note 1] Shortly thereafter, Captain Bentinck Cavendish Doyle of Lightning transferred to take command of Madagascar.

In June 1814, Madagascar served in a flotilla under the command of Admiral Lord Cochrane, and carried General William Miller and his troops from Bordeaux to the Chesapeake Bay to reinforce General Ross in the War of 1812.1

Notes

  1. ^ A first-class share for Diamond was worth £59 3s 3+1⁄2d; a sixth-class share was worth 10s 3+3⁄4d.[1]

Citations

  1. ^ "No. 16945". The London Gazette. 12 April 1814. p. 2040.

References