Aventurier (or Avanturier), was a 16-gun brig of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

. She was launched in 1793 and was captured in 1798. 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...

 named her HMS Aventurier and disposed of her in 1802.

French service

Aventurier was built as a privateer to a design by Jean-Louis Pestel, but the French navy requisitioned her while she was still in the stocks. She was fitted out at Havre in October-November 1793, though there were problems with respect to arming her fully. She then patrolled between Havre and Dieppe under Lieutenant Harang. Between February and June 1795 she escorted convoys between Cherbourg and Brest.

On 10 June 1796, she grounded off Pontusval, near Brignogan

Brignogan-Plage

Brignogan-Plage is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.Brignogan is 32 kilometres from Brest...

. Refloated, she cruised near the Île de Batz

Île de Batz

The Île de Batz is an island off Roscoff in Brittany, France. Administratively, it is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Population:...

 under Lieutenant Hurtel. From January 1797 she cruised out of Saint Malo.

Capture

On 4 August 1798 she was under the command of Lieutenant René-Guillaume Raffi (or Raffy) and anchored in the port of Corréjou or Corigiou. Here the boats of and cut her out. British casualties were one man killed, one missing and four wounded. The French casualties were 16 wounded, several mortally. The attack took place at night and in bad weather. To get Aventurier out of the port took two hours because of the weather conditions and took place under fire from the forts that protected the port. All-in-all, the operation was a daring and arduous one. The subsequent court martial of Lieutenant Raffi, who had been wounded at the start of the attack on his vessel, acquitted him for the loss.

She was brought into British service as HMS Aventurier. She appears to have had an unremarkable career, appearing only once in the Naval Chronicle, when she was reported to have arrived at Plymouth on 27 April 1800, having escorted a convoy. Nor does she appear in the London Gazette.The database of the National Maritime Museum

National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...

acknowledges that that Melpomene and Childers captured the Adventurier, but has no record of an Aventurier, Adventurier, or Adventurer.