French frigate Médée (1741)
{{Short description|26-gun French frigate}}
{{other ships|French ship Médée}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Kingdom of France | Ship flag = File:Flag of the Kingdom of France (1814-1830).svg | Ship name = Médée | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship original cost = | Ship laid down = September 1740 | Ship launched = February 1741 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship captured = 4 April 1744 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Great Britain | Ship flag = File:Naval Ensign of Great Britain (1707-1800).svg | Ship name = HMS Medea | Ship acquired = 4 April 1744 | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Sold March 1745 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Great Britain | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} | Ship name = Boscawen | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = 1744 | Ship out of service = November 1745 | Ship renamed = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Wrecked at St Ives, Cornwall | Ship notes = Privateer }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Ship class = | Ship tons burthen = 380 (French tons of 2,000 livres) | Ship length = *{{convert|122|ft|0.3|in|abbr=on|1}} (gundeck)
| Ship beam = {{convert|32|ft|6|in|abbr=on|1}} | Ship draught = | Ship hold depth = {{convert|15|ft|3.3|in|abbr=on|1}} | Ship sail plan = | Ship complement = 240{{cite web|last=Phillips|first=Michael|title=Ships of the Old Navy|url=http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=5252|accessdate=13 October 2012}} | Ship armament = 26 × 8-pounder guns on one deck {{efn|The French 'pound' (livre) was 7.9% heavier than the British pound, so 8 livres equals 8.63 British pounds.}} | Ship notes = }} |
Médée was a French frégate du deuxième ordre, or 26-gun frigate, built in 1740. She is widely considered to be the inspiration for a long line of similar sailing frigates, and was the first ship captured by the British Royal Navy in the War of the Austrian Succession. She became a privateer and was wrecked at St Ives, Cornwall, following a succession of gales in November 1745.
Construction
Médée was designed by Blaise Ollivier, with twenty-six 8-pounder guns, and was launched in February 1741 at Brest.Winfield &Roberts p.204 She was regarded as the first of the 'true' frigate designs: she was built with two decks, but only the upper deck mounted guns.{{cite book|last=Nicholas|first=Rodger|title=The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815|year=2004|publisher=Penguin|location=London|pages=415–416|isbn=0-713-99411-8}} These guns were relatively heavy, and the higher mounting meant that they could be used in rough seas.
Capture and final voyage
Médée was captured in the English Channel by {{HMS|Dreadnought|1742|6}} on 4 April 1744 (Julian calendar date) and briefly served as HMS Medea in the British Royal Navy. She was sold in March 1745, becoming the privateer Boscawen; named after Edward Boscawen, the captain of Dreadnought.{{cite book|last=Laughton|first=John Knox|title=Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 5 |volume=5 |page=416|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Boscawen,_Edward_(1711-1761)_(DNB00)}} Although the Navy Board had the opportunity to purchase her, they decided not to retain her, in spite of her innovative design qualities; many French ships of the time were not designed for durability and she was not as strongly built as British frigates of that time. File:Commodore Walker's Action- the Privateer 'Boscawen' Engaging a Fleet of French Ships, 23 May 1745 RMG BHC0362.tiffDespite this the number of guns she carried was increased, and when Boscawen encountered a series of gales after leaving the Azores on 5 October 1745, she sprung several leaks. She was further weakened when, through negligence, the mainyard parted and dropped onto the ship, straining the already weakened hull. In response to a near-mutinous crew, Commodore George Walker set a course for the Lizard and having been swept northwards she was a floating wreck when Land's End was sighted on 24 November. The ship finally hove to in St Ives Bay on the north Cornish coast. Her anchors had been ditched days before and she broke in two on rocks at St Ives with the townsfolk wading into the sea to save the crew. Only four crew were lost, Commodore Walker being the last man to leave the wreck.{{cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Clive |title=Cornish Ship Wrecks. The North Coast |date=1978|publisher=Pan Books|location=London and Sydney|isbn=0-330-25369-7|pages=190}}
Her speed and size provided the Bedford Board of Admiralty with the arguments needed to change British frigate design.
Notes
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Citations
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References
- {{cite book |last1=Winfield |first1=Rif |last2=Roberts |first2=Stephen S. |title=French warships in the age of sail, 1626-1786: design, construction, careers and fates |date=2017 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |isbn=9781473893511}}
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Category:Sailing frigates of the French Navy
Category:Age of Sail frigates of France
Category:Ships built in France
Category:Frigates of the Royal Navy