French frigate Minerve (1794)

''Minerve'' was a 40-gun of the French Navy. The British captured her twice and the French recaptured her once. She therefore served under four names before being broken up in 1814:
* ''Minerve'', 1794–1795
* HMS ''Minerve'', 1795–1803
* ''Canonnière'', 1803–1810
* HMS ''Confiance'', 1810–1814

French service as ''Minerve''

Her keel was laid in January 1792, and ''Minerve'' was launched in 1794. On 14 December, off the island of Ivica, she captured the collier ''Hannibal'', which was sailing from Liverpool to Naples. However, eleven days later, recaptured ''Hannibal'' off Toulon and sent her into Corsica.

''Minerve'' took part in combat off Noli. At the action of 24 June 1795, she and the 36-gun engaged the frigates and . ''Minerve'' surrendered to the British, ''Artémise'' having fled, and was commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS ''Minerve''.

British service as HMS ''Minerve''

French Revolutionary Wars

On 19 December 1796, ''Minerve'', under the command of Captain George Cockburn, was involved in an action with against the Spanish frigates ''Santa Sabina'' and ''Ceres''. ''Minerve'' captured the ''Santa Sabina'', which lost 164 men killed and wounded. ''Minerve'' herself lost eight killed, 38 wounded and four missing. ''Minerve'' also suffered extensive damage to her masts and rigging. ''Blanche'' went off in pursuit of ''Ceres''. Early the next morning a Spanish frigate approached ''Minerve'', which made ready to engage. However, two Spanish ships of the line and two more frigates approached. Skillful sailing enabled Cockburn to escape with ''Minerve'' but the Spaniards recaptured ''Santa Sabina'' and her prize crew.

On the evening of 1 August 1799, at 9 P.M., ''Minerve''s boats came alongside . Captain Francis Austen of ''Peterel'' sent these boats and his own to cut out some vessels from the Bay of Diano, near Genoa. Firing was heard at around midnight and by morning the boats returned, bringing with them a large settee carrying wine, and the ''Virginie'', a French warship. ''Virginie'' was a Turkish-built half-galley that the French had captured at Malta the year before. She had provision for 26 oars and carried six guns. She was under the command of a ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' and had a crew of 36 men, 20 of whom had jumped overboard when the British approached, and 16 of whom the British captured. She had brought General Joubert from Toulon and was going on the next day to Genoa where Joubert was to replace General Moreau in command of the French army in Italy. ''Minerve'' and ''Peterel'' shared the proceeds of the capture of ''Virginie'' with and .

Then on 8 November, ''Minerve'' and the hired armed brig captured ''Mouche''.

On 15 May 1800, ''Minerve'' and the schooner captured the French privateer cutter ''Vengeance''. ''Vengeance'' was armed with 15 guns and had a crew of 132 men.

In September 1801 ''Minerve'' was in the Mediterranean protecting Elba. Early on 2 September ''Minerve'' alerted , which was anchored off Piombino, to the presence of two French frigates nearby. ''Phoenix'' and ''Minerve'' set out in pursuit and soon came up and joined them. ''Pomone'' re-captured , a former British 32-gun fifth-rate frigate now under the command of Monsieur Britel. (The French had captured ''Success'' in February, off Toulon.) ''Minerve'' also ran onshore the 46-gun French frigate , which had a crew of 283 men under the command of Monsieur Dordelin. ''Bravoure'' lost her masts and was totally wrecked; she struck without a shot being fired. ''Minerve'' took off a number of prisoners, including Dordelin and his officers, in her boats. With enemy fire from the shore and with night coming on, Captain Cockburn of ''Minerve'' decided to halt the evacuation of prisoners; he therefore was unwilling to set ''Bravoure'' on fire because some of her crew remained on board.

Napoleonic Wars

Shortly after war with France had resumed ''Minerve'' was in the Channel and under the command of Captain Jahleel Brenton. On 26 May 1803 she arrested the French exploration ship and brought her into Portsmouth, even though ''Naturaliste'' was flying a cartel flag and had passports attesting to her non-combatant character. The British released ''Naturliste'' and she arrived at Le Havre on 6 June 1803.

In the evening of 2 July, during a fog, ''Minerve'' ran aground near Cherbourg. She had been pursuing some merchant vessels when she hit. The guns of Île Pelée and the gunboats (Captain Lécolier) and Captain Pétrée immediately engaged her. ''Minerve''s crew attempted to refloat her, but the fire forced Brenton to surrender at 5:30 in the morning, after she had lost 12 men killed and about 15 men wounded.

Brenton attributed his defeat to fire from Fort Liberté at Île Pelée, although the artillery of the fort comprised only three pieces (its other guns had been moved to the fort on the Îles Saint-Marcouf), fired at extreme range, and had ceased fire during the night; on the other hand, the gunboats fired continuously at half-range.

The French took ''Minerve'' back into their service under the name ''Canonnière''.

French service as ''Canonnière''

In 1806, under Captain César-Joseph Bourayne, she sailed to Isle de France (now Mauritius) to reinforce the frigate squadron under admiral Linois. Failing to find Linois at Isle de France, ''Canonnière'' patrolled the Indian Ocean in the hope of making her junction. She fought an inconclusive action on 21 April against the 74-gun and the 50-gun .Troude, ''op. cit.'', vol.3, p. 461.

In late 1806, ''Canonnière'' was in Manilla, where Bourayne agreed to sail to Acapulco to claim funds on behalf of the Spanish colonies.Troude, ''op. cit.'', vol.3, p. 513 She arrived at Acapulco in April 1807 and escorted Spanish merchantmen to Luzon. She then returned to Acapulco on 20 July to load three million piastres, ferried them to Manilla, and was back in Isle de France in July 1808.

At that time, the French division of Isle de France, comprising the frigates and as well as the corvette ''Iéna'', was at sea to conduct commerce raiding. The island was blockaded by the 30-gun , under Captain John Woolcombe. On 11 September, ''Canonnière'' set sail to meet ''Laurel'' and force her to retreat or fight. After a day of searching, ''Canonnière'' found ''Laurel'' and the frigates began exchanging fire around 17:00. ''Laurel'' sustained heavy damage to her rigging, hindering her ability to manoeuvers and at 19:00, a gust of wind gave advantage to ''Canonnière''. ''Laurel'' struck her colours shortly before 20:00, and ''Canonnière'' took her prize in tow back to Port Louis. Her capture strengthened the situation of the island, as ''Laurel'' was freshly arrived, provisioned for a five-month cruise, and carried various supplies for the British squadron.

''Canonnière'' returned to Mauritius in late March 180

As she required repairs beyond those possible in Mauritius, the French sold her in June and she eventually sent off for France en flûte under the name ''Confiance''.

Capture and British service as HMS ''Confiance''

It was during this transit that , under Captain John Bligh, recaptured her on 3 February 1810 near Belle Île after a six-hour chase. She was armed with only 14 guns and had a crew of 135 men, under the command of Captain Jacques François Perroud. She had been 93 days in transit when she was captured, having eluded British vessels 14 times. She was carrying goods worth £150,000, General Decaen having made her available to the merchants of Île de France to carry home their merchandise. Amongst her passengers was César-Joseph Bourayne.

''Confiance'' then briefly re-entered the Royal Navy as HMS ''Confiance''. She never returned to active service however, and was deleted from navy lists in 1814.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Minerve (1794)
Frigates of the Royal Navy
Age of Sail frigates of France
1794 ships
Frigates of the French Navy
Captured ships
Ships built in France
Maritime incidents in 1803
Shipwrecks of France