The French brig Alerte was launched in 1787 and captured by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 at Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 in 1793. The British set her on fire when they evacuated Toulon later that year. After the French rebuilt her as Alerte, she served at the Battle of Aboukir Bay

Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...

. The British recaptured her in 1799 and took her into service as Minorca. Minorca was sold in 1802.

French brig Alerte (I)

Alerte was built at Rochefort and designed as an aviso. Hubert Pennevert completed here as a bric. She was commissioned as a brig of 10 guns. In 1790 she was under the command of Commandant D'Aujard in the Levant.

British brig

On 28 August 1793, the British occupied Toulon. Alerte was among the many vessels they seized. The British may have renamed her HMS Vigilante.There is little other evidence for this name change. All other accounts refer to her as HMS Alerte. In September she was under the command of Commander William Edge.

The Siege of Toulon

Siege of Toulon

The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...

 went badly for the Royalist

House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...

, Spanish and British forces and they were forced to quit the city on 18 December. As they did so, they set fire to the "Frigate Alerte", of "16 guns" and "in want of repairs".

French brig Alerte (II)

Alerte burned to her waterline, but the French were able to rebuild her. On 1 August 1798 she was at the battle of Aboukir

Abu Qir

Abū Qīr is a village on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, northeast of Alexandria by rail, containing a castle used as a state prison by Muhammad Ali of Egypt....

 Bay (Battle of the Nile).

Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers

François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers

Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys was the French commander in the Battle of the Nile, in which the French Revolutionary Navy was defeated by Royal Navy forces under Admiral Horatio Nelson. The British victory helped to ensure their naval supremacy throughout the...

 hoped to lure the British fleet onto the shoals at Aboukir Island, sending the brigs Alerte and Railleur to act as decoys in the shallow waters, but the plan failed. Then, as the British fleet approached, Brueys sent Alerte ahead, passing close to the leading British ships and then steering sharply to the west over the shoal in the hope that the ships of the line might follow and become grounded. None of Nelson's captains fell for the ruse and the British fleet continued undeterred.

After the French defeat, Alerte left Alexandria in the squadron under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée, consisting of the 40-gun Junon, 36-gun Alceste, 32-gun Courageuse, 18-gun Salamine and Alerte. The squadron then took shelter in Genoa.

On 17 June 1799 the squadron, still under Perrée, while enroute from Jaffa

Jaffa

Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...

 for Toulon, ran into a British squadron under the command of Captain John Markham of . The British captured the entire French squadron, with capturing Alerte. Markham described Alerte as a brig of 14 guns and 120 men, under the command of Lieutenant Dumay.

HMS Minorca

The British took Alerte into service as Minorca. They commissioned her in August 1800 under Commander George Miller. On 26 January was in company with Minorca and when she recaptured the Ragusean brig Annonciata, Michele Pepi, master.

Minorca served with the British blockade of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

. Between 29-31 March Minorca played an important role in the capture of the French ship of the line Guillaume-Tell

HMS Malta (1800)

HMS Malta was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had previously served with the French Navy as the Tonnant-class Guillaume Tell, but was captured in the Mediterranean in 1800 by a British squadron enforcing the blockade of Malta...

 by sailing to bring up ships of the blockading squadron while the frigate harried her.
Minorca was among the many ships that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the French frigate Dianne

French frigate Diane (1796)

The Diane was a 38-gun frigate of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of the Nile, managing to escape to Malta with the Justice....

 on 25 August. On 16 February 1801 she captured the Turenne, J. Imbert, master, or the Furienne. Turenne or Furienne was a French xebec of six guns and a crew of 38 men. She had 1200 stand of arms on board and had been sailing from Leghorn

Livorno

Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...

 to Alexandria.

In March Minorca returned to Aboukir Bay. She was part of Admiral Keith's naval force at the British expedition to Egypt. Here she was among the vessels moored as near as possible to the beach, with their broadsides towards it to support the landing of the troops. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the award of the Naval General Service medal with clasp "Egypt" to all claimants from vessels that had been present between March and September. Minorca was among the vessels listed as qualifying.