French frigate Mignonne (1767)
{{Short description|French Navy warship}}
{{Other ships|French ship Mignonne|HMS Mignonne}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=France |Ship flag=File:Flag of the Kingdom of France (1814-1830).svg Image:Flag of French-Navy-Revolution.svg |Ship name=Mignonne{{efn|Mignonne was ordered as Precieuse but was renamed shortly before launch.{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=121-2}}}} |Ship namesake="Pretty" |Ship ordered=5 August 1765 |Ship builder=Toulon Dockyard; constructeur: Claude Saussillon |Ship laid down=October 1765 |Ship launched=26 April 1767 |Ship acquired= |Ship completed= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured=10 August 1794 |Ship fate= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Great Britain |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Great Britain|naval}} |Ship name=Mignonne |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired=10 August 1794 by capture |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Burnt July 1797 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption={{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=216}}{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=121-2}} |Ship class= |Ship type=Frigate |Ship displacement=880 tons (French) |Ship tons burthen=684 (bm) |Ship length=*{{convert|38.98|m|ft|abbr=on}} (overall)
|Ship beam={{convert|10.39|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|4.22|m|ft|abbr=on}} (unladen) |Ship hold depth={{convert|5.12|m|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship sail plan= |Ship propulsion=Sails |Ship complement=*French service: 157–200
|Ship armament=*French service: 26 × 8-pounder long guns + 4 × 4-pounder guns on the Spar Deck; 6 × 4-pounders from 1787 |Ship notes= }} |
The French frigate Mignonne was a one-off design by Jean-Baptiste Doumet-Revest;{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=121-2}} she was launched in 1767 at Toulon. Some notable French captains commanded her before the British captured her at Calvi in 1794 and took her into the Royal Navy as HMS Mignonne. She was burnt in 1797 as useless.
French service
On 2 April 1771, Commander Chabert was given command of Mignonne, and conducted a cruise to test a chronometer made by Ferdinand Berthoud. Upon his return, in late November, Chabert was promoted to captain. {{sfnp|Doneaud Du Plan|1878|p=10}}
In 1772 Mignonne came under the command of Suffren, who had just been promoted to the rank of captain. He commanded her and later Alcemene in the squadron that the French government had established for the purpose of training its officers.{{sfnp|Laughton |1887|pp=99-100}}
In 1793 the French Navy had Mignonne razeed, converting her to a corvette.{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|pp=121-2}}
On 22 October 1793 Mignonne was part of a five-vessel squadron under the command of Jean-Baptiste Perrée. In addition to Mignonne, the squadron included the frigates {{HMS|Melpomene|1794|2}}, Minerve, and Fortunée, and the brig Hasard. They encountered the 64-gun third rate {{HMS|Agamemnon|1781|6}}, under the command of Captain Horatio Nelson. Agamemnon and Fortunée engaged in an inconclusive action before the French squadron chose not to pursue the matter and sailed off.James (1837), Vol. 1, pp.117-8.
Capture
On 18 June 1794, Agamemnon anchored south of Calvi. Once the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean fleet under Vice-Admiral Hood arrived, the British commenced a 51-day siege of the town, which surrendered on 10 August. Shortly thereafter the inhabitants of Corsica declared themselves to be subjects of His Majesty King George III.
The British captured five vessels at Calvi, two frigates – Melopmène and Mignonne – and three small armed vessels, the brigs Auguste and Providence, each of four guns, and the gun-boat Ca Ira, of three guns.{{London Gazette|pages=883–886|issue=13698|date=2 September 1794}}{{efn|Auguste had been requisitioned in June 1793, and Providence in 1793-4.{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|p=296}} Ca Ira had been commissioned in June or July 1794.{{sfnp|Winfield|Roberts|2015|p=277}}}} Melpomène was a new vessel and the British were glad to take her into service, which they did under her existing name; she served in the Royal Navy until 1815. The 27-year-old Mignonne they too took into service under her existing name but without the same expressions of enthusiasm.
British service
Mignonne was commissioned under Commander Henry Hotham. Commander Ralph Miller recommissioned her in November 1795. On 13 June 1796 D’Arcy Preston was promoted to post captain in Mignonne. His replacement in September was Captain Charles Stuart. On 19 October John Giffard was similarly promoted into Mignonne. His successor, in December, was Captain Philip Wodehouse.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=216}}
Fate
Captain Nelson wrote to Admiral Jervis on 29 December 1796 that he expected to be able to sell {{HMS|Tarleton|1782|2}} and Mignonne.Nelson (1846), Vol. 7, p.CXXVI. Clearly he was unable to as on 31 July 1797 the British burnt Mignonne as unserviceable when they withdrew from Porto Ferrajo.{{sfnp|Winfield|2008|p=216}}
Notes
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Citations
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References
- {{cite book|last=Doneaud Du Plan|first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Doneaud Du Plan |year=1878 |title=Histoire de l'Académie de marine |publisher=Berger-Levrault |location=Paris |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65484612 |language=fr }}
- {{cite book| last = James| first = William| author-link = William James (naval historian)| year = 1837| title = The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV.| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_PSwOAAAAQAAJ| publisher = R. Bentley}}
- {{cite book | last=Laughton | first=John Knox | title=Studies in Naval History. Biographies | publisher=Longmans & Co. | year=1887 | oclc=771605876 }}
- {{cite book|first=Horatio|last=Nelson|url=https://archive.org/details/dispatchesandle05nicogoog|title=The dispatches and letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson: with notes|editor=Nicholas Harris|publisher=H. Colburn|year=1845}}
- {{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships in the Age of Sail 1792–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth|year=2008|isbn=978-1-86176-246-7}}
- {{cite book|last1=Winfield|first1=Rif|last2=Roberts|first2=Stephen S.|year=2015|title=French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=978-1-84832-204-2}}
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Category:Ships built in France