''Thémis'' 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 ...

Service

Launched at

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the G ...

in 1799 and commissioned in 1801,Winfield & Roberts, p.131 she took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre (22 July 1805) and in the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

(21 October 1805). During Trafalgar she was commanded by Captain Nicolas Joseph Pierre Jugan. After the battle she towed the Spanish

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

''Principe de Asturias'' and '' Santa Ana'' to safety in

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

Lamellerie's expedition

Still under the command of Captain Jugan, on 26 February 1806 she took part in Lamellerie's expedition, a squadron commanded by the most senior frigate captain in Cádiz, Captain Louis-Charles-Auguste Delamarre de Lamellerie. The squadron's mission was to breakout out of Cádiz into the Atlantic and raid British merchant shipping.Gardiner, p. 25 It consisted of other French frigates who had survived Trafalgar: ''Hermione'', ''Hortense'' (Lamellerie's frigate), ''Rhin'' and the brig ''Furet''James, p. 253 (a slower ship she was captured by the British while the rest of the squadron escaped into the Atlantic).Clowes, p. 198 Following the escape from Cádiz, the remaining four ships of the squadron sailed southwards, reaching the French African trading post of

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in March and then crossing the Atlantic to

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

arriving on 27 March.Woodman, p. 225 Taking on fresh supplies, the squadron sailed from Cayenne on 7 April and operated with limited success against British merchant shipping in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, including 15 days cruising off

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. Retiring to the Spanish colony of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, Lamellerie resupplied his ships again in preparation for the journey back to France. On 18 May the squadron sailed for home.James, p. 203 During the six months expedition the squadron did not cause significant disruption to British trade. On 27 July, as they neared

, the squadron were spotted by a British ship of the line which chased the French squadron through the night and into the next morning, by which time the ''Rhin'' had fallen behind the others and was captured. The other ships became separated and ''Thémis'' was the only one to reach the intended destination of Rochefort (the other two frigates ended up in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

).James, p. 254

Mediterranean

In January 1808 ''Thémis'' was sailing in the Atlantic before returning to the Mediterranean. After passing by

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

on 17 March, she raided commerce with the French frigate ''Pénélope'' and sailed to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

. From there, she was tasked to ferry supplies to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, along with the ''Pauline''. She was trapped there and eventually seized by the British when they captured the island.

Citations

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Themis Coquille-class frigates 1799 ships Ships built in France