''Virginie'' was a 40-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

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 ...

, lead ship of its class.

Career

French service

She took part in the

First Battle of Groix Cornwallis's Retreat was a naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars in which a British Royal Navy squadron of five ships of the line and two frigates was attacked by a much larger French Navy fleet of 12 ships of the line and 11 fri ...

and in the

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix (, ) took place on 23 June 1795 off the island of Groix in the Bay of Biscay during the War of the First Coalition. It was fought between elements of the British Channel Fleet and the French Ponant Fleet, Atlantic Fleet, whi ...

. On 22 April 1796, ''Virginie'' was cruising off Ireland under captain

Jacques Bergeret Jacques Bergeret (; Bayonne, 15 May 1771 - Paris, 26 August 1857) was a French naval officer and admiral. Biography Bergeret was born in Bayonne on 15 May 1771, and joined the merchant navy at the age of 12, when he sailed to Pondicherry aboard ...

when she encountered a British squadron under Commodore

Edward Pellew Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younge ...

, comprising the Razee 44 gun and the frigates , , , and their prize ''Unité'', captured on 13 April.''Campagnes, thriomphes, revers, désastres et guerres civiles des Français de 1792 à la paix de 1856'', F. Ladimir et E. Moreau. Librairie Populaire des Villes et des Campagnes, 185
Tome 5
pp. 42–43 ''Virginie'' retreated and the British squadron gave chase, joining with the French frigate around 23:00. ''Indefatigable'' closed in and exchanged broadsides, without succeeding in her attempts at raking ''Virginie''. The gunnery exchange lasted for 4 hours, until the British frigates caught up. Bergeret then struck his colours in the face of an overwhelming opponent. She was subsequently recommissioned in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as HMS ''Virginie''.

British service

In January 1799, ''Virginie'' was with British squadron at the defence of

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

during the Macau Incident. On 20 May 1808, she captured the Dutch frigate ''Guelderland''. In Royal Navy service the armament consisted of 46 guns: * 8 carronades (32-pounders) on the quarterdeck and forecastle * 28 long ordnances (18-pounders) on the main deck * 10 long ordnances (9-pounders) on the quarterdeck and forecastleJournal of Robert Knox, Lunarian and Master

Notes

Citations

References

* Grocott, Terence (1997) ''Shipwrecks of the revolutionary & Napoleonic eras'' (Chatham). *
Naval Database

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Virginie (1794) Virginie-class frigates Ships built in France 1794 ships