| History | |
|---|---|
.svg) France | |
| Name | Monsieur |
| Owner | Messrs. Laforterie-Valmont, Deslandes, and Leboucher de Vallefleur[1] |
| Builder | Le Havre |
| Laid down | July 1778 |
| Launched | 1779 |
| Fate | Captured 1780 |
.svg) Great Britain | |
| Name | HMSMonsieur |
| Operator | Royal Navy |
| In service | 1780 |
| Out of service | 1783 |
| Fate | Sold 1783 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | frigate |
| Tons burthen | 81875⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 36 ft6+1⁄2 in (11.138 m) |
| Depth of hold | 17 ft9+1⁄2 in (5.423 m) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Complement | Privateer: 398British service: 255 (from 21 December 1780) |
| Armament | |
HMSMonsieur was the former 40-gun French privateerMonsieur, built at Le Havre between July 1778 and 1779, then armed atGranville. TheRoyal Navy captured her in 1780 and subsequently put her into service as a 36-gunFifth Rate. Thisfrigate was sold in 1783.
From August 1779 to March 1780, Nicholas Guidelou was her captain.[2] On her first cruise, in the space of four months, he captured 28 prizes off the English and Irish coasts.[3] Only three of his prizes were retaken,[1] and he brought into port 543 prisoners and 120 cannon.[4] KingLouis XVI honoured Guidelou with a sword and a letter of thanks.[3]
On 28 March 1779,Monsieur captured the Scotsletter of marqueLeveller, off the harbour ofCork.[5] Two days later, fiveleagues off Cape Clear,Monsieur captured thePolly, sailing for Liverpool. AfterPolly was ransomed for 1250guineas, the privateer let her continue her journey. The next day, 1 April, another French privateer fired atPolly, but she was able to take refuge in the port ofSkibbereen[6]
On 14 August 1779John Paul Jones led a small squadron consisting ofBon Homme Richard,Alliance,Pallas,Vengeance,Cerf, and two privateers,Monsieur andGranville, out ofGroa.[7] On 18 August they recaptured the Dutch vesselVerwagting, which an English privateer had captured eight days earlier. She had been carrying brandy and wine from Barcelona to Dunkirk. During the nightMonsieur's captain took what he wanted from the prize, and then sent her off to Ostend under his name and with his prize crew. Jones overhauled the prize, put his own prize crew aboard, and sent her off toLorient under his orders.[8] The next eveningMonsieur left Jones's squadron.Granville left either at the same time or soon thereafter.
On 22 January 1780, theLively was sailing from London to Liverpool when she fell victim to the Irish pirate vesselBlack Prince.Lively escaped only to fall victim toMonsieur two days later.Monsieur took all the crew out ofLively, except for three boys, and put a 13-man prize crew aboard. On 4 February, the boys recaptured the ship while almost the entire prize crew was asleep. The next day they sailed toKinsale where theletter of marqueHercules took possession.[6]
On 12 March 1780 theThird RateAlexander, under the command of CaptainLord Longford, was west ofScilly when she spotted a frigate.[9]Alexander gave chase and after 18 hours got within range, at which time the quarry raised French colours. The two vessels exchanged fire for some two hours, the quarry using stern chasers to answerAlexander's bow chasers. AsAlexander pulled alongside the quarry,Alexander's fore-top-mast simply fell over due to rot.[9] Fortunately,Courageux, Captain Charles Fielding, had joined the engagement and she took up the chase. Some time and some firing later, the quarrystruck. She turned out to be theMonsieur, ofGranville, under the command of Jean de Bochet. She was armed with 40 guns, 12-pounders on the gundeck and 6-pounders on the quarterdeck and forecastle, and had a crew of 362 men. She was eight days out of Lorient but had taken no prizes. Longford described her as "a very fine frigate, almost new".[9]
The prize was brought intoPortsmouth harbour on 19 March, a week after her capture, and the Admiralty decided to take her into service.[10] She was refitted for Royal Naval service at a cost of £8,364 between May and October 1780, and re-armed as a 36-gun frigate.[10]
The Royal Navy commissioned her as HMSMonsieur under the command of Captainthe Honourable Charles Phipps in July 1780.[10] On 10 December,Monsieur, in company withVestal,St Albans,Portland, andSolebay capturedComtess de Buzancois.[11] A few days later, on 15 December,Monsieur captured the French cutterChevreuil.[12]Chevreuil, ofSaint-Malo, was armed with twenty 6-pounder guns, had a crew of 116 men, and had been launched on 1 March 1779.[13]
In 1781,Monsieur, now commanded by Captain the Honourable Seymour Finch, was serving with Vice-AdmiralDarby's Channel Fleet. She therefore participated in therelief of Gibraltar, with the fleet sailing from Spithead on 13 March and arriving at Gibraltar on 12 April.[14] At some point, vessels of the fleet engaged Spanishgunboats off Cadiz, during whichMonsieur andMinerva had some men badly wounded.[15]Monsieur was among the many ships of Darby's fleet that shared in the prize money for the capture ofDuc de Chartres, the Spanish frigateSanta Leocadia, and the French brigTrois Amis.[16]
On 9 October 1781,Monsieur,Minerva, Captain Charles Fielding,Flora andCrocodile] captured the American privateerHercules,[17] of 20 guns and 120 men. The next dayMinerva andMonsieur captured the American privateerJason,[18] of 22 guns.[14]Minerva captured the privateerWexford, which was six weeks out of Boston and had captured nothing. All three privateers were taken offCape Clear Island, Ireland, and taken intoCork.[19]
On 12 December at theSecond Battle of Ushant, AdmiralRichard Kempenfelt captured 15 French transports.[14]Monsieur was among the many vessels that shared in the prize money for theEmille Sophie de Brest and theMargueritte,[20] and presumably other prizes.
In the middle of July 1782,Monsieur was in a squadron of fourthird rates and three frigates under the command of Captain Reeve, in the recently launchedCrown, as commodore. In the Bay of Biscay the squadron captured three prizes: thePigmy cutter, theHermione, a victualler with 90 bullocks for the combined fleet, and a brig carrying salt.[21]
Following the conclusion of the war,Monsieur was paid off at Deptford in March 1783. She was sold for £820 on 25 September of that year.[10]
This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by theNational Maritime Museum, as part of theWarship Histories project.