French frigate Iris (1781)
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:Lutine1.jpg |Ship caption=A {{sclass|Magicienne|frigate|1}} }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=France |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of France|naval}}File:Flag of the Kingdom of France (1814-1830).svg File:Flag of French-Navy-Revolution.svg |Ship name=Iris |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Toulon shipyard |Ship laid down=May 1781 |Ship launched=29 October 1781 |Ship completed:February 1782 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship captured=August 1793 |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Destroyed December 1793 |Ship honours= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Magicienne|frigate}} |Ship displacement=1,100 tons (French) |Ship length=*{{convert|44.18|m|abbr=on}} (overall)
|Ship beam={{convert|11.21|m|abbr=on}} |Ship hold depth={{convert|5.79|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|5.2|m|abbr=on}} (laden) |Ship sail plan=Full-rigged ship |Ship complement=265–285 |Ship armament=*26 × 12-pounder long guns
}} |
The French frigate Iris was a {{sclass|Magicienne|frigate}}, one of seven, launched at Toulon in 1781 for the French Navy. : Between 1781 and 1784, there were two French frigates Iris, this newly launched frigate, and the former {{USS|Hancock|1776|6}}, which the British had captured in 1781 in the American theatre and renamed Iris, and which the French had captured in 1781 and sold in 1784. The British captured the new Iris at Toulon on 28 August 1793, and burned her on their evacuation of the city in December.
Fate
When the Royalist French surrendered Toulon to Lord Hood in 1793, they found Iris dismantled and being used as a powder hulk.{{cite book |last=Mostert|title=The Line Upon the Wind|page=105}}{{cite book |last=Winfield |title=British Warships |page=232}} As the republicans advanced on the town, the Anglo-Spanish forces evacuated, destroying the arsenal and as many ships as they could of those that they could not sail out of the port.{{cite book |last=Mostert|title=The Line Upon the Wind|page=116}} Captain Sidney Smith took charge of a small squadron of three English and three Spanish gunboats and went into the inner harbour to scuttle the ships.{{cite book |last=Mostert|title=The Line Upon the Wind|page=117}} Against orders, instead of sinking one of the frigates, the Spanish crew of one gunboat set the frigate alight. The vessel, possibly Iris, was being used to store one thousand barrels of gunpowder. The resulting explosion blew the British gun boat Terrible, commanded by Lieutenant Patey, to pieces; however, the men were picked up alive.Gardner p.104 Another British gunboat, Union, which was nearest to Iris, too was blown to pieces; her commander, Mr Young, was killed, together with three of his men.von Pivka p.38 At least one other powder hulk, French frigate Montréal,Henry G. Bohn, "Battles of the British Navy", Joseph Allen, ESQ. R.N., Volume 1, 1853, pp. 369–370 was also destroyed in the evacuation, and Iris was recorded as being one of those burnt in the retreat.
Citations
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References
- {{cite book | last = Gardner| first = Robert|title = Fleet Battle and Blockade, The French Revolutionary War 1793–1797 | publisher = Chatham| year = 2001|isbn=1-84067-363-X}}
- Von Pivka, Otto; Navies of the Napoleonic era. Taplinger Pub Co; Book Club Edition (1980) {{ISBN|0-8008-5472-1}}
- {{cite book|last=Mostert|first=Noel|title=The Line Upon a Wind: The Greatest War Fought At Sea Under Sail: 1793–1815|location=London|publisher=Vintage Books|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7126-0927-2}}
- {{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth|year=2008|isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}}
- Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015 Forthcoming) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1862: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing). {{ISBN|9781848322042}}
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