French brig Colibri (1802)

History
France
Name: Colibri
Ordered: October 1801
Builder: Louis, Antoine, & Mathurin Crucy, Basse-Indre[1] Design by Jean-Michel Segondat.[2]
Launched: 22 May 1802 [1]
Commissioned: 5 July 1802
Renamed: Saint Pierre on 1 September 1802 [1]
Fate: Donated to the Papal Navy in December 1802 [1]
History
Papal States
Name: San Petro
Acquired: December 1802
Captured: June 1806
History
France
Name: San Petro
Acquired: June 1806 by capture
Renamed: Saint Pierre in May 1809
Fate: Struck 1813
General characteristics [3]
Class & type: Alcyon-class
Displacement: 280 tons (French)
Tons burthen: 150 (French; "of load")
Length: 27 m (88.6 ft) (overall)
Beam: 8.5 m (27.89 ft)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Brig
Armament: 16 × 4-pounder guns [1]

Colibri was a brig launched in 1802 for the French Navy. Between 14 and 16 August Colibri cruised the Atlantic as she sailed to Cadiz. She was under the command of enseigne de vaisseau Jourdain.[4]

She was renamed Saint Pierre on 1 September 1802. Napoleon ordered the name change preparatory to donating her to Pope Pius VII. Saint Pierre left Toulon on 14 December and arrived at Civitavecchia on 16 December.[3] She sailed in company with a second gift, the somewhat over-aged brig San Paulo, escorted by Alcyon.[1] Lieutenant Dornaldéguy performed the official transfer of the ships to the papal deleguate.[1]

In the service of the Papal Navy she was renamed San Petro. The French Navy seized her at Civitavechia in June 1806 and listed her as San Petro. The French Empire annexed Civitavecchia in May 1809; at that time she reverted to the name Saint Pierre. She remained at Civitavechia until January 1813. At that time the French Navy found her to be unserviceable and had her struck from the Navy list.[3]

The schematics of the ornamentation of Colibri are stored at the Service Historique de la Marine in Paris (8DD1.2 no 6) and were published in Lepelley's monograph on Manche.[2]

Citations and references

Citations
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Roche, vol. 1, p.119
  2. 1 2 Demerliac, 1800-1815, p. 109, no 818
  3. 1 2 3 Winfield and Roberts (2015), p.210.
  4. ↑ Fonds Marine, p. 262.
References
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