French ship Belle Poule (1765)
Encyclopedia
Belle Poule was a French frigate of the Dédaigneuse class, designed and built by Léon-Michel Guignace, famous for her duel with the English frigate Arethusa
HMS Arethusa (1759)
The Aréthuse was a French frigate, launched in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. She was subsequently captured by the Royal Navy and became the fifth-rate HMS Arethusa.Aréthuse was built at Le Havre for privateer warfare, as Pélerine...
on 17 June 1778, which began the French involvement in the American War of Independence.
1768 - 1778
The Belle Poule was built from March 1765 to early 1767 in BordeauxBordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
.
She served in two campaigns in the West Indies, where due to her good sailing performance she was selected for the first French attempt at covering her hull with copper to resist marine growths.
From 1772 to 1776, she was sent on hydrographic missions, during which the young La Pérouse
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
came to the attention of his superiors.
On the 12 December 1776, she left India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to return to Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
. At the time, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
was not yet engaged in the American War of Independence, but there had been numerous incidents involving French and British ships. Indeed, on the 27 April 1777, the Belle Poule was chased by a British ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
, which she easily evaded to reach Brest.
1778 - 1801
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
back to America. On 7 January, the English ships of the line Hector
HMS Hector (1774)
HMS Hector was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 27 May 1774 at Deptford.She was converted for use as a prison ship in 1808, and was broken up in 1816....
and Courageous stopped her and demanded to inspect her. In spite of the overwhelming superiority of the British forces, her captain, Charles de Bernard de Marigny
Charles de Bernard de Marigny
Charles-René-Louis, vicomte de Bernard de Marigny was a French vice admiral, grand-cross of the ordre de Saint-Louis and commander of the Brest fleet.- Biography :...
, answered:
The English offered apologies and let the frigate sail through. However, opposing winds prevented the ship from crossing the Atlantic, and after 36 days, the Belle Poule had to return to Brest. Franklin later sailed to America aboard the Sensible.
When war broke out, the Belle Poule was sent on a reconnaissance mission, along with the 26-gun frigate Licorne, the corvette Hirondelle and the smaller Coureur, to locate the squadron of Admiral Keppel
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel
Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel PC was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence...
. They encountered the British squadron, which chased them. caught up with the French and a furious battle ensued. Eventually, Arethusa had to break off the fight, having lost her main mast. The British captured the smaller French ships, but the two frigates escaped the numerous ships of the line pursuing them. Belle Poule lost 30 killed, among which her captain, commandant de La Clocheterie. Arethusa had eight men killed and 36 wounded. The battle was so famous that ladies of the high society invented the hairstyle "Belle Poule", with a ship on the top of the head.
Between September and October 1778, Belle Poule teamed up with French ship Vengeur and captured 5 privateers. In 1779, the Belle Poule served as coast guard and convoy escort.
Capture
On the evening of 14 July 1780 Captain Sir James Wallace of the 64-gun ship of the line NonsuchHMS Nonsuch (1774)
HMS Nonsuch was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 December 1774 at Plymouth.In July 1780 Nonsuch destroyed the corvette Hussard and on 14 July captured the 26-gun frigate Belle Poule of the Loire....
was off the Loire where her boats were burning the French frigate Legere. He observed three vessels to the north west, signalling each other and immediately gave chase. At about midnight Nonsuch caught up with one of the three off Île d'Yeu
Île d'Yeu
Île d'Yeu is an island and commune just off the Vendée coast of western France.The island's two harbours, Port-Joinville in the north and Port de la Meule, located in a rocky inlet of the southern granite coast, are famous for the fishing of tuna and lobster....
and commenced a two-hour action. When the French vessel struck she turned out to be the Belle Poule. She was armed with thirty-two 12-pounder guns, had a crew of 275 men and was under the command of Chevalier Kergariou. In the engagement Belle Poule lost 25 men killed, including Kergariou, 50 other officers and men, including her second captain, wounded. Nonsuch had lost three men killed and ten wounded, two of whom died later. The two French vessels that escaped were the frigate Aimable, of thirty-two 8-pounder guns, and the corvette Rossinolle, of twenty 6-pounder guns.
British service
She was commissioned in February 1781 into the English Royal NavyRoyal 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...
, retaining her name. She served for the next 21 months under Captain Philip Patton. On 17 April she, with , captured the privateer Callonne, under the command of Luke Ryan. Calonne was only two years old, a fast sailer, and well equipped for a voyage of three months and a crew of 200 men. She was armed with twenty-two 9-pounder guns, six 4-pounder guns and six 12-pounder carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
s.
Fate
The Royal Navy put Belle Poule into ordinaryReserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
at Chatham in November 1782. She then served briefly as a receiving ship from 1796 before the Admiralty sold her for breaking up in 1801.