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French frigate Poursuivante (1798)
Encyclopedia
The Poursuivante (“chaser”) was a Romaine class frigate
Romaine class frigate
The Romaine class was a class of nine 42-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1794 by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. They were originally designated as "bomb-frigates" and were intended to carry a main armament of twenty 24-pounder guns and a 12-inch mortar. Experience quickly led to the...
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...
.
In June 1800, the Poursuivante took part in the battle of Dunkirk
Raid on Dunkirk (1800)
The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars...
under commander Oreille. In 1802, she departed Flushing
Flushing, Netherlands
Vlissingen is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century...
to ferry troops to Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
, under capitaine de vaisseau Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez
Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez
Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez was a French sailor and admiral of the First French Empire....
. She arrived as the Haitian Revolution
Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...
raged. The ships Duguay-Trouin
HMS Implacable (1805)
HMS Implacable was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally the French Navy's Téméraire-class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800....
, Annibal and Swiftsure, as well as frigate Précieuse, Infatigable were also in Haiti. General Pamphile Lacroix ordered the Blacks of the island drown, and the ships started throwing the Blacks of the island overboard. Only Willaumez refused the ordered, arguing that “sailors of the French Navy were no executioners” http://www.winterludes.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=907.
On the 18 May 1803, the Treaty of Amiens
Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
was cancelled and war broke out between France and the United Kingdom. On the 28 June 1803, The Poursuivante, en route for Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
with the 16-gun corvette Mignonne
French corvette Mignonne (1797)
Mignonne was a 16-gun corvette of the Etna class in the French Navy. She served until 1803 when the British captured her...
, encountered a British convoy, and was chased by the HMS Hercules
French ship Hercule (1798)
The Hercule was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.During her maiden journey, on 21 April 1798, and just 24 hours out of port, she was captured by the British ship HMS Mars after a violent fight, off Île de Sein near Brest...
. Largely out-gunned, the Poursuivante managed to manoeuver behind the Hercules and rake
Raking fire
In naval warfare, raking fire is fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship. Although each shot is directed against a smaller target profile than by shooting broadside and thus more likely to miss the target ship to one side or the other, an individual cannon shot that hits will pass...
her, disturbing her operations enough to be able to reach harbour. Mignonne was captured by HMS Goliath
HMS Goliath (1781)
HMS Goliath was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 19 October 1781 at Deptford Dockyard. She was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, Battle of the Nile, and Battle of Copenhagen. She was broken up in 1815....
In October, the Poursuivante reffited in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, from where she departed in March 1804. During her journey back to France, she met and evaded another British ship. Willaumez was promoted to vice-admiral on his return.
She was converted to a hulk in Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
in June 1806.