French ship Jean Bart (1786)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Laurel.
History
France
Name: Jean Bart
Namesake: Jean Bart
Builder: Bayonne
Launched: 1786
Acquired: Requisitioned in January 1794 in Nantes
Commissioned: 1793 as a privateer
Captured: By Britain on 15 April 1795
Great Britain
Name: HMS Laurel
Fate: Sold at Jamaica in 1797
General characteristics [1][2]
Class & type: Corvette
Displacement: 550 tons (French)
Tons burthen: 423 1894 (bm)
Length:
  • 107 ft 0 in (32.61 m) (overall)
  • 82 ft 6 12 in (25.159 m) (keel)
Beam: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
Depth of hold: 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement:
  • French service:177
  • British service:100
Armament:
  • French service: 5 x 12-pounder guns, 19 x 8-pounder guns
  • 1795: 24 x 8-pounder guns
  • British service=22 x 9-pounder guns

Jean Bart was a merchant vessel built at Bayonne in 1786. Her owners commissioned her at Nantes in 1793 as a privateer. The French Navy requisitioned her in January 1794 and classed her as a corvette and listed her as Jean Bart No. 2 to distinguish her from the corvette French corvette Jean Bart (1793). The Navy intended to rename her Imposant in May 1795, but the Royal Navy captured her first.[1]

On 15 April 1795, a naval squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren gave chase to Jean Bart, described in the report of the capture as being a ship-corvette of 26 guns and 187 men. The actual captor, off the Île de Ré, was HMS Artois.[3]

The Royal Navy took Jean Bart into service as the post ship HMS Laurel. Between July and 8 December 1797 the Royal Navy had Laurel fitted a Portsmouth. She had been flush-decked, but received a small forecastle, quarterdeck, and extra platforms. She was commissioned under Captain Robert Rolles, who sailed her for the coast of Africa and then the Leeward Islands.[4] In May 1796 Laurel participated in the capture of Santa Lucia under Rear Admiral SirHugh Cloberry Christian and General Ralph Abercrombie.,[5] and shared in the prize money for the capture.[6]

Laurel was sold in 1797 at Jamaica.[2]

Citations and references

Citations
  1. 1 2 Winfield and Roberts (2015), p. 177.
  2. 1 2 Winfield (2008), p.231.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 13773. p. 379. 25 April 1795.
  4. Schomberg (1802), p.
  5. Marshall (1823), Vol. 1, Part 2, p.677.
  6. The London Gazette: no. 15265. p. 623. 7 June 1800.
References
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