French frigate Galathée (1779)

Galathée, drawn in 1781 by François Aimé Louis Dumoulin
History
France
Name: Galathée
Namesake: Galatea
Builder: Rochefort
Laid down: January 1778
Launched: 28 June 1779
Fate: ran aground 1795
General characteristics
Class and type: Galathée class frigate
Tons burthen: 600 tonnes
Length: 44.5 m (146 ft)
Beam: 12.2 m (40 ft)
Depth of hold: 5.5 m (18 ft)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 32 guns, later upgraded to 44

The Galathée was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.

Galathée took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, taking part to the capture of Sint Eustatius and to the Battle of the Saintes.

In the summer of 1791, under Major de vaisseau Joseph de Cambis, she ferryied civilian commissaries to Santo Domingo.[1] During the French Revolution, she took part in the Combat du 13 prairial, where she took Terrible in tow, under fire, preventing her capture by the British.

On 14 July 1794 she and Seine captured the 16-gun sloop-of-war HMS Hound in the Atlantic.[2]

In the night of 23 to 24 April 1795, Galathée ran aground off Penmarch, becoming a total loss.

Notes and references

Notes

    References

    1. Fonds Marine, vol.1, p.29
    2. Grocott (1997), p.8.

    Bibliography

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