''Caroline'' was a 40-gun of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, launched in 1806. She captured several small British vessels in 1807, including a 14-gun

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

. She was ordered to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

in 1808 for

commerce raiding Commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them. Privateering is a fo ...

, arriving in 1809. During the subsequent Mauritius campaign, ''Caroline'' captured two

East Indiamen East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European Trading company, trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belon ...

and their valuable cargoes of trade goods in the action of 31 May 1809. The British captured ''Caroline'' at

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during the Raid on Saint Paul in September 1809, renaming her HMS ''Bourbonaise'' as they already had a ship named ''Caroline'' in service. ''Bourbonaise'' sailed back to Plymouth where she was held

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until 1816, when she was sold for breaking up.

Service history

Actions in 1807

On 30 November 1807 ''Caroline'' captured ''Charlotte'', which ''Caroline'' set afire and sank. A week later, on 6 December, ''Caroline'' captured the

''Caesar'', which she also set on fire and sank. ''Caesar'' was a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

of 217 tons (bm), armed with fourteen 6-pounders and two 18-pounder carronades. Her master, Robert Harrison, had received his

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

on 1 January 1807.

Indian Ocean mission and capture

On 12 November 1808, the French authorities sent four new 40-gun frigates to the Indian Ocean, one of them ''Caroline'', under the command of Captain Jean-Baptiste Billard. ''Caroline'' sailed from

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in the Netherlands. '' Caroline'' initially patrolled with , Captain Breton, and ''Iéna'', under ''capitaine de vaisseau'' Billard. ''Manche'' was another of the four; she had sailed from

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

. ''Caroline'' captured several ships, notably two

and ''Europa'' on 31 May 1809, before returning to Saint-Paul. A third East Indiaman, , escaped. Prize crews took ''Streatham'' and ''Europa'' to

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

, where the British recaptured them on 21 September. While Billard was suffering from very serious illness, ''Caroline'' was under the command of his first mate ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Feretier. He was ''Caroline''s commander on 21 September when and captured her during the British Raid on Saint-Paul.

HMS ''Bourbonaise''

She was taken into British service as HMS ''Bourbonaise'', there already being an in service. ''Bourbonnaise'' was commissioned under Captain Robert Corbett shortly after her capture. He sailed her to Plymouth, where she arrived 16 February 1810. The

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

paid her off and laid her up in

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. She never went to sea again.

Fate

The Admiralty attempted to auction ''Bourbonaise'' at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 18 September 1816 at £2500, but bidding stopped at £2000. She was broken up in April 1817.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caroline (1806) Age of Sail frigates of France Ships built in France 1806 ships Hortense-class frigates Captured ships Frigates of the Royal Navy