French frigate Hébé (1782)

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Hebe, in 1795
History
Kingdom of France
NameHébé
NamesakeHebe
BuilderSaint Malo[1]
Laid downDecember 1781 [1]
Launched25 June 1782 [1]
CommissionedAugust 1782 [1]
CapturedCaptured by the Royal Navy in the action of 4 September 1782
Great Britain
NameHMS Hebe
Acquired1782 by purchase of a prize
RenamedHMS Blonde (1805)
FateBroken up June 1811
General characteristics [1][2]
Class and typeHébé-class frigate
Displacement700 tonnes
Tons burthen
  • 1782: 10717⁄94
  • 1790: 106252⁄94
Length46.3 m (152 ft)
Beam11.9 m (39 ft)
Draught5.5 m (18 ft)
Complement297
Armament
  • French navy: 26 × long 18-pounder + *8 × long 8-pounder guns
  • Royal Navy
    • Upper deck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
    • QD:
      • 1782: 8 × 9-pounder guns
      • 1805: 6 × 32-pounder
        carronades
    • Fc:
      • 1782: 2 × 9-pounder guns
      • 1805: 2 × 32-pounder carronades

Hébé was a 38-gun warship of the French Navy, and lead ship of the Hébé-class frigate. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1782 and took her into service as HMS Hebe, before renaming her HMS Blonde in 1805.

French Navy career

Hébé's first commander was Captain Joseph Pierre de Vigny,

Anglo-French War.[1]

In the

foremast of Hébé was then seriously damaged, reducing her manuverability. An hour and a half later, when Rainbow was about to come alongside, de Vigny was left with only four working port guns and immediately struck his colours.[3]

British Royal Navy career

As was standard practice with captured warships that were not seriously damaged, the British took Hébé into service; she was recommissioned as HMS Hebe.

In December 1784 Hebe captured Rover, a lugger engaged in smuggling, off the Isle of Wight. Rover had a cargo of 2,000 casks of spirits and a small quantity of tea. She had come from Flushing and Hebe took her into Portsmouth where her goods were confiscated, and the ship and crew placed in the custody of naval authorities.[4]

On 3 July 1795 Melampus and Hebe intercepted a French convoy of 13 vessels off St Malo. Melampus captured an armed

cutter Sprightly shared in the prize and head money after helping escort the captured ships back to England.[6] The Royal Navy took Vésuve into service as HMS Vesuve
.

Because Hebe served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants from the campaign.[7]

On 24 December 1805, the Navy removed all traces of the ship's French origin by changing her name to HMS Blonde.

On 15 August 1807, Blonde, under Captain Volant Vashon Ballard, completed her final major action at sea with the capture of Dame Villaret after a chase of 13 hours. She was armed with an 18-pounder gun and four 9-pounder carronades and had a crew of 69 men. According to the ship's captured logbook, she had been out twenty days but had taken no prizes.[8]

Fate

The Royal Navy paid off Blonde in July 1810 as she was considered too old for any further use. She was eventually broken up at Deptford in June 1811.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Joseph Pierre de Vigny (1742–1812). His elder brother Léon Pierre (1737–1816), chevalier de Vigny, was also on board, as a « volontaire d'honneur » (honour volunteer). Léon Pierre became, in 1797, father of the future poet Alfred de Vigny.

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f Roche, vol.1, p.238
  2. ^ a b Winfield (2008), p. 141.
  3. ISBN 2-85023-123-1
    .
  4. hdl:2027/uc1.c3049062
    . Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  5. ^ "No. 13794". The London Gazette. 7 July 1795. p. 721.
  6. ^ "No. 13957". The London Gazette. 3 December 1796. p. 1174.
  7. ^ "No. 21077". The London Gazette. 15 March 1850. pp. 791–792.
  8. ^ "No. 16077". The London Gazette. 17 October 1807. p. 1379.

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_frigate_Hébé_(1782)&oldid=1220629986"