French frigate Loire (1796)
Capture of Loire
| |
History | |
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France | |
Name | Loire |
Builder | Nantes |
Laid down | April 1794 |
Launched | 23 March 1796 |
In service | December 1797 |
Captured | 18 October 1798 |
Great Britain | |
Name | Loire |
Acquired | 18 October 1798 by capture |
Honours and awards |
|
Fate | Broken up in 1818 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 1,350 tons (French) |
Length | 46.3 m (151 ft 11 in) |
Beam | 12 m (39 ft 4 in) |
Draught | 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Armament |
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Loire was a 38-gun frigate of the French Navy.[1] She was captured following the Battle of Tory Island by a Royal Navy frigate squadron and subsequently taken into British service as HMS Loire.
French service and capture
On 21 December 1797, Captain Louis-Marie Le Gouardun took command, until 22 September 1798.[2]
Loire took part in the
British service
On 27 June 1803 Loire's boats captured the French navy brig Venteux while she was anchored close to shore batteries on the Île de Batz. Venteux had a crew of 82 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Gilles-François Montfort and was armed with four 18-pounder guns and six 36-pounder brass carronades. Loire lost her boatswain and five men badly wounded; the French lost their second captain and two men killed, and all five remaining officers, including Montfort, wounded, as well as eight other men wounded.[5] The Royal Navy brought Venteux into service as Eagle, and next year renamed her HMS Eclipse.[6] Lloyd's Patriotic Fund awarded both Lieutenant Francis Temple and Lieutenant James Bowen, who had commanded the boats that had put men on board Venteux an honour sword worth 50guineas, and Midshipman John Priest, whose boat did not arrive in time, an honour sword worth 30 guineas. In 1847 the Admiralty recognized the action with the clasp "27 June Boat Service 1803" to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded to all surviving claimants from the action. T
On 17 March 1804 Loire sighted a strange vessel on the Irish station and made all sail in pursuit. She came up with and captured what proved to be the French privateer Braave, of sixteen 12 and 6-pounder guns and 110 men. She had left L'Orient three weeks earlier but had made no captures.[7]
On 16 August 1804 Loire gave chase to a suspicious-looking sail. After a chase of 20 hours, including a running fight of a quarter of an hour, during which the British had one midshipman and five men wounded, and the French lost two men killed and five wounded, the latter hauled down her colours. She proved to be French privateer Blonde, of Bordeaux, mounting 30 guns, eight-pounders on the main deck, with a crew of 240 men under François Aregnaudeau; the same ship that, about five months earlier, had captured the Wolverine.[8] Loire took the prize in tow to Plymouth where the prisoners were disembarked on 31 August.
On 2 June 1805 boats from Loire captured the Spanish privateer felucca Esperanza (alias San Pedro), in the Bay of Camarinas, east of Cape Finisterre. She was armed with three eighteen-pounders, four four-pounder brass swivels and a crew of 50 men. Loire had only three men slightly wounded. The captured Spanish crew had lost 19 of their 50 men, mostly killed by pike and sword; some however had jumped overboard.[9]
On 4 June 1805 Loire made an attack on
On 25 June Loire had been chasing a French frigate privateer for some twelve hours when Melampus and Brilliant came up and cut-off the quarry, forcing her to surrender. She was the Valiant (or Vaillant), of Bordeaux. She was armed with twenty-four 18-pounder guns on her main deck and six 6-pounders, which she threw overboard while Loire was pursuing her. She had a crew of 240 men. She had been out for 20 days on a four-month cruise but had only captured the Halifax packet Lord Charles Spencer.[12] The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Barbette.
On 24 December off Rochefort, Loire and Egyptienne captured the 40-gun Libre, Capitaine de Frégate Deschorches commanding.[13] Libre was armed with twenty-four 18-pounders, six 36-pounder carronades and ten 9-pounder guns. In the fight, which lasted half an hour, the French lost 20 men killed and wounded out of a crew of 280 men. Loire had no casualties but Egyptienne had 8 wounded, one mortally.[13] Libre was badly damaged and had lost her masts so Loire took her in tow and reached Plymouth with her on 4 January 1806. Libre had sailed from Flushing on 14 November in company with a French 48-gun frigate but the two vessels had parted in a gale on 9 November off the coast of Scotland.[13] The Admiralty did not purchase Libre into service.
On 22 April 1806, Loire captured the Spanish privateer Princess of Peace, 14 guns, 23 men. Loire was paid off at Deptford in October 1806.
In early 1808, while under command of Alexander Wilmot Schomberg, Loire and the frigate HMS Success (Captain John Ayscough), sailed to Greenland on fishery protection duties, venturing as far as 77° 30' North.
On 21 June 1810 Loire and
In September 1812 Loire was at 14°8′N 28°11′W / 14.133°N 28.183°W. She was escorting Cornwall, Dorsetshire, Scaleby Castle, Batavia, and Lord Eldon, which were on their way from Saint Helena to England.[15]
War of 1812
On 4 December 1813 Ramillies and Loire recaptured the whaler Policy, J.Bowman, master, which the United States Navy had captured in the South Pacific. Her captors sent Policy into Halifax, Nova Scotia.
On 10 December, Loire, commanded by Thomas Smith, captured the Baltimore privateer
Cockburn's Chesapeake squadron, consisting of Albion, Dragon, Loire, Jasseur, and the schooner St Lawrence, took part in a series of raids. After the British failed to destroy the American Chesapeake Bay Flotilla at the Battle of St. Jerome Creek, they conducted a number of coastal raids on the towns of Calverton, Huntingtown, Prince Frederick, Benedict, and Lower Marlborough.[21] On 15 June 1814, a force of 30 Colonial Marines accompanied 180 Royal Marines, all in 12 boats, in a raid on Benedict.[22][23] Nine days later, on 24 June, a force of 50 Colonial and 180 Royal Marines attacked an artillery battery at Chesconessex Creek, although this proved unsuccessful in preventing the escape of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, which departed from St. Leonard's Creek two days later.[21][24] Five Royal Marine casualties, from the ship's detachment, were suffered during June 1814.[25][26]
On 7 July, Loire and Severn were ordered to cruise the upper Chesapeake, to harass American boats in general, and to attack a steamboat in particular.
Loire sailed to
Fate
On 14 October 1817 the Navy Commissioners gave notice in the
Citations
- ^ a b "No. 15081". The London Gazette. 17 November 1798. pp. 1100–1100.
- ^ Quintin, p.221
- ^ James, p. 137
- ^ "No. 15075". The London Gazette. 27 October 1798. pp. 1026–1026.
- ^ "No. 15598". The London Gazette. 2 July 1803. p. 791.
- ^ Winfield (2008), p. 348.
- ^ "No. 15687". The London Gazette. 27 March 1804. p. 377.
- ^ James, Naval History of Great Britain - Vol III, p 276
- ^ "No. 15817". The London Gazette. 18 June 1805. p. 799.
- ^ Winfield (2008), p. 43.
- ^ Long (1895), p. 229.
- ^ "No. 15821". The London Gazette. 2 July 1805. p. 862.
- ^ a b c "No. 15876". The London Gazette. 28 December 1805. p. 1625.
- ^ Lloyd's List, №4713, – Retrieved 4 March 2015.
- . Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ "No. 16850". The London Gazette. 29 January 1814. p. 232.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), p. 286.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 1, p. 541.
- ^ "LOG HMS Loire - 40 cannon Frigate 1798-1818". Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ Crawford (ed), p61
- ^ a b Heidler, p95
- ^ Marshall, p729: "Captain Barrie commends, in high terms, the conduct of all the officers, seamen, and marines, under his orders, as well as that of the colonial corps, composed of armed blacks."
- ^ "No. 16941". The London Gazette. 1 October 1814. pp. 1965–1965.
- ^ Crawford (ed), p121, quoting a letter from Captain Brown to Rear Admiral Cockburn dated 23 June 1814: 'the Party were attacked by several hundred Infantry and Cavalry with four field Pieces, a Serjeant, four Marines and one Seaman, retreating to the Boats, were cut off'
- ^ "War of 1812 Casualty Database [of Crown Forces]". Christopher McKay. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
- ^ "The Last Stand of Sergeant Mayeaux, Royal Marines, 1814". Donald Graves. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
- ^ Crawford (ed), pp151-2, quoting a letter from Rear Admiral Cockburn to Captain Barrie dated 11 July 1814
- ^ Crawford (ed), pp151-2, quoting a letter from Rear Admiral Cockburn to Vice Admiral Cochrane dated 11 July 1814
- ^ "No. 16941". The London Gazette. 1 October 1814. pp. 1964–1967.
- ^ Crawford (ed), pp163-6, quoting a letter from Rear Admiral Cockburn to Vice Admiral Cochrane dated 21 July 1814. UK National Archives reference ADM 1/507 folios 103-6
- ^ Crawford (ed), p166, quoting a letter from Rear Admiral Cockburn to Vice Admiral Cochrane dated 24 July 1814. UK National Archives reference ADM 1/507 folio 108
- ^ Crawford (ed), pp168, quoting a letter from Rear Admiral Cockburn to Vice Admiral Cochrane dated 31 July 1814. UK National Archives reference ADM 1/507 folios 110-11
- ^ Crawford (ed), p170, "A Return of Killed and Wounded in Yocomoco River the 3rd August 1814" mentions one seaman killed and two badly wounded. Archive reference ADM 1/507 Folio 116
- ^ "Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels and a few of their movements". P. Benyon. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
- ^ "No. 17296". The London Gazette. 21 October 1817. pp. 2157–2157.
References
- Crawford, Michael J. (Ed) (2002). The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. 3. Washington: United States Department of Defense. ISBN 9780160512247
- Heidler, David Stephen & Jeanne T. (2004). Encyclopedia of the War of 1812. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-362-4
- James, William (1837). The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. R. Bentley.
- Lambert, Andrew (2012). The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-27319-X
- Long, William H. (1895) Medals of the British navy and how they were won: with a list of those officers, who for their gallant conduct were granted honorary swords and plate by the Committee of the Patriotic Fund. (London: Norie & Wilson).
- Maclay, Edgar Stanton; Smith, Roy Campbell (1898) [1893]. A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1898. Vol. 1 (New ed.). New York: D. Appleton. OCLC 609036.
- Marshall, John (1825). Royal Naval Biography. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. OCLC 8717325
- Quintin, Danielle; Quintin, Bernard (2003). Dictionnaire des capitaines de Vaisseau de Napoléon (in French). S.P.M. OCLC 165892922.
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)
- OCLC 133902576.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
External links
- Media related to Loire (ship, 1796) at Wikimedia Commons
- Naval Database Archived 16 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine