The Surveillante entered service as a 40-gun Virginie class

Virginie class frigate

The Virginie class was a class of ten 44-gun frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1793 by Jacques-Noël Sané. An eleventh vessel begun in 1794 was never completed.* Virginie...

 frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 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 surrendered to the British in 1803, after which she served in 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...

, classed under the British system as a 38 gun vessel, until 1814 when she was decommissioned. HMS Surveillante had a long and active career under two successful and distinguished commanders, from the Baltic to the North-Western coasts of France, Spain and Portugal, and was present at the Battle of Copenhagen (1807)

Battle of Copenhagen (1807)

The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...

 and throughout the Peninsula War. Her record as a taker of prizes is notable for its success, particularly towards the end of her career.

1803 - British capture

Surveillante was present at Saint Domingue (Haiti) in November 1803 during the revolt of slaves against the French. The French naval commander who was also Surveillantes Captain, Henry Barre, prevailed upon British Commodore John Loring's representative, Captain John Bligh to accept the capitulation of the Surveillante, in order to put her, as well as her crew and passengers under British protection. The former slaves threatened to fire red hot shot at the ship from the overlooking forts.

The British naval Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station, Admiral Sir John Duckworth, accepted the French commander General Rochambeau

Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau

Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau was a French soldier, the son of Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau....

, his staff and entourage, as prisoners. Duckworth wrote "From General Rochambeau's extraordinary conduct in the public service, neither Captain Bligh or myself have any thing to say to him further than complying with his wishes in allowing him to remain on board the Surveillante until her arrival at Jamaica." Another French frigate, the Clorinde, suffered the loss of her rudder and was temporarily beached, although she was re-floated and taken as a prize. Consequently both frigates were brought into the Royal Navy under their original names as HMS Surveillante and HMS Clorinde

French frigate Clorinde (1801)

The Clorinde was a 44-gun Uranie class frigate of the French Navy.She was laid down as Havraise in 1796, and was renamed to Clorinde before her commissioning in Nantes. In 1801, she was under Emmanuel Halgan....

. Surveillante, newly built, was bought into the Service quickly; the first recorded Navy Pay Office Ships' Pay Books from the Navy Board commenced from 11 July 1804.

Prize-taking

• On 9 January 1805, Surveillante, Captain John Bligh commanding, in company with , Edward Hawker commanding, captured the Spanish ship El Batidor.
• On 9 July, Surveillante in company with Fortunée and Echo captured several merchant vessels laden with sugar.
• On 7 December, Surveillante, accompanied by Morne Fortunee, Lieutenant John Rorie commanding, captured the merchant ship Cleopatra.
• On 5 July 1806, Surveillante, accompanied by the British vessels Fortunée, Echo , Superieure and Hercule, captured Spanish ship La Josepha, laden with quicksilver.

1807

Captain George Collier

Sir George Collier, 1st Baronet

Sir George Ralph Collier, 1st Baronet KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812. He had an eventful early life, being shipwrecked early in his career and later captured by the French...

 took command of Surveillante on 22 April 1807 and took part in the Second Battle of Copenhagen that began late in August. She was present at the detention of numerous Danish merchant vessels that were taken as prizes, the proceeds of which were shared by the fleet. The Danish merchant ships shared by Surveillante were the Hans and Jacob taken 17 August 1807; Die Twee Gebfoders, taken 21 August 1807; Sally taken 22 August; Speculation detained 23 August Fama detained on 26 August, Aurora, Paulina and Ceres taken 30 August and 31 August; Odifiord and Benedicta, taken 4 and 12 September 1807. Admiral James Gambier sent the Surveillante back to England entrusted with dispatches, explaining the outcome of the battle and the subsequent Danish surrender. Gambier signed his dispatch on 7 September onboard flagship HMS Prince of Wales

HMS Prince of Wales (1794)

HMS Prince of Wales was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 June 1794 at Portsmouth.She was present at the Battle of Groix in 1795, and served as the flagship of Admiral Robert Calder at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805. Prince of Wales was not present at...

; Surveillante sailed directly from the Copenhagen Road to London, where Collier delivered the dispatch to the Admiralty Office in person on 16 September 1807.

Following Russia's declaration of war

Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812)

The Anglo-Russian War occurred during the Napoleonic Wars. Hostilities were limited primarily to a small number of naval actions in the Baltic, though there were also attacks in the Barents Sea...

 against Great Britain in 1807 following the Treaty of Tilsit between Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....

, the British government issued an embargo against all Russian ships then found in British ports. Surveillante was one of 70 British vessels present at Portsmouth, at the detaining of the 44-gun frigate Speshnoy (Speshnyy) and the Wilhelmina (Vilgemina), which were carrying the payroll for Vice-Admiral Dmitry Senyavin

Dmitry Senyavin

Dmitry Nikolayevich Senyavin or Seniavin was a Russian admiral who ranks among the greatest seamen of the Napoleonic Wars.- Service under Ushakov :...

’s squadron in the Mediterranean.

1809

Lieutenant General Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

 was appointed commander of the Portuguese expedition in March 1809, and received his letter of service on 2 April. He made his way to Portsmouth where he was received by the frigate assigned for his transportation, which was subsequently delayed from 3 to 14 April, nearly two weeks, waiting for a fair wind. That frigate was Surveillante. She was able to set sail on 14 April 1809 allowing Wellesley to embark upon his second voyage to Lisbon during the Peninsula War; however, Wellesley, troubled by bad weather, was subjected to a storm during his first night at sea; it was remarked that the frigate narrowly escaped shipwreck off the coast of the Isle of Wight. His aid-de-camp was sent by Captain Collier to request that Wellesley put his boots on and join him on deck, to which he replied he could swim better without his boots and would stay where he was.

On 30 October 1809 Surveillante captured French corvette Le Milan, in sight of HMS Seine. 3 December 1809 saw Surveillante driven southward from her allotted station off Rochelle, where she fell in with a French cutter privateer, La Comtesse Laure, which she captured. Collier wrote "The privateer is of a class and possesses qualities admirably calculated for the annoyance of the British Trade."

1810

On 23 June 1810 Surveillante captured the chasse marees Le Margaretta and L'Eclair, His Majesty's gun-brigs Constant and Piercer in company. On 5 September 1810, the Surveillante and the gun-brig , the latter commanded by Lieutenant John Stokes, were reconnoitring the Loire

Loire (river)

The Loire is the longest river in France. With a length of , it drains an area of , which represents more than a fifth of France's land area. It is the 170th longest river in the world...

, when they observed a division of a French convoy running south from the Morbihan

Morbihan

Morbihan is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan , the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline.-History:...

. The British ships gave chase and forced a single brig to seek shelter between two nearby batteries. Collier attacked the frigate with boats, whilst receiving fire from French troops ashore and succeeded in cutting out the brig without sustaining any casualties.

1811

On 30 April 1811 Surveillante captured the French privateer La Creole. On 20 July Surveillante was appointed to escort a convoy bound for Corunna.

1812

On 28 January 1812 the Surveillante, in company with HMS Sybille

French frigate Sibylle (1792)

The Sibylle was an 38-gun Hébé class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1791 at the dockyards in Toulon and placed in service in 1792...

, Captain C. Upton, and , captured the American ship Zone. On 25 May 1812, HMS Surveillante captured the American schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 Young Connecticut.

In late July 1812, Surveillante was part of a British squadron stationed off the north coast of Spain, commanded by Captain Sir Home Popham of the 74-gun HMS Venerable.

HMS Venerable (1808)

HMS Venerable was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 April 1808 at Northfleet.-Career:On 13 December 1810 Venerable was in company with the hired armed cutter Nimrod and several other vessels at the capture of the Goede Trouw.On 31 December 1813, she captured the...

The British squadron, assisting Spanish Guerillas against the French, made an attack upon the town of Santander

Santander, Cantabria

The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

 and the Castle of Ano. The castle was taken possession of by the Royal Marines, but the garrison of Santander was reinforced, and the Spanish and British attacking forces were obliged to fall back upon the Castle, sustaining losses as they retreated. Captain Lake of HMS Magnificent and Captain Sir George Collier, who commanded the British detachment, were wounded.

On 7 October 1812 Surveillante captured the American schooner Baltimore accompanied by His Majesty's Ships Venerable, Diadem, Briton, Latona and Constant. On 20 December 1812 Surveillante recaptured the American brig Ocean bound to Lisbon from New York, laden with flour.

1813

On 4 February 1813 Surveillante was present at the capture of American schooner Rolla made by HMS Medusa

HMS Medusa (1801)

HMS Medusa was a 38-gun 5th rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served in the Napoleonic Wars. Launched on 14 April 1801, she took part in the Action of 5 October 1804 against a Spanish squadron, in the River Plate Expedition in 1807, and made several captures of enemy ships, before being converted...

, the Honourable D. Pleydell Bouverie commanding, and HMS Iris. On 23 March 1813 Surveillante took the fishing schooner Polly as a prize. On 15 April she was present at the capture of the American schooner Price, captured by HMS Iris, Hood Hanway Christian commanding. 27 April 1813 saw Surveillante involved in a notable action against American letter of marque Tom. Collier wrote that she was captured "after a smart chase; she was from Charlestown, bound to Nantz; she is a remarkably fine vessel for her class, and, from her superior sailing, had already escaped eighteen of His Majesty's cruizers." Surveillante was accompanied by HMS Lyra. On 5 May 1813 she recaptured the American ship Mount Hope, sailing from Charlestown bound for Cadiz, laden with rice, in company with HMS Andromeda and HMS Iris. On 1 June 1813, Surveillante captured the American schooner Orders in Council, a letter of marque (privateer), after a five hour chase.The prize money from this action was shared with two British privateers who were in sight of the action but did not take part in it; they were the Rebecca and Earl Wellington.

In late July 1813, Surveillante under Captain Collier was involved in landing operations off St. Sabastian's, in which they attempted to breach a battery. In so doing they established an artillery position whilst under heavy fire from the fortification. Several of her crew, and an artillery officer from the army, were killed. Surveillante remained in action against the French garrison on the island of Santa Clara, at the mouth of Saint Sebastian harbour. Collier announced that a successful attack had been made on 27-28 July, despite being under heavy fire.

In September Surveillante was present at the fall of San Sebastian.Collier wrote that the frigate's 24-pounders dragged over land and mounted on Santa Clara had silenced the enemy's guns opposing them in the Castle of La Motte. The French commander, General Rey, flew a flag of truce, capitulating to the British. "The garrison," wrote Collier, "still upwards of seventeen hundred, became prisoners of war, and are to be conveyed to England."

Surveillante was broken up on 14 August 1814.