The ''Impérieuse'' 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 ...

. 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 ...

captured her in 1793 and she served first as HMS ''Imperieuse'' and then from 1803 as HMS ''Unite''. She became a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

in 1836 and was

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

in 1858.

French service and capture

In 1788, ''Impérieuse'' cruised in the Middle East, and the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

the two following years. She performed another cruise off the Middle East before returning 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 ...

. On 11 October 1793, ''Impérieuse'' was captured off

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

by and the Spanish

ship 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 tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

''Bahama'' following the

Raid on Genoa The Raid on Genoa was a minor naval engagement fought in the harbour of the Italian city of Genoa during the first year of the French Revolutionary Wars. French Republican forces in the Mediterranean, under pressure from Austrian and Spanish a ...

British service

The

commissioned ''Imperieuse'' as the

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

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 ...

HMS ''Imperieuse''.

French Revolutionary Wars: HMS ''Imperieuse''

''Imperieuse'' entered service in 1795, and operated in the West Indies off

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and Surinam for most of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, under the command of Captain John Beresford. ''Imperieuse'' returned to Britain at the

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

Napoleonic Wars: HMS ''Unite''

When the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

began ''Imperieuse'' was renamed ''Unite'' and returned to service in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. The frigate was under the command of Captain Chaloner Ogle as one of Nelson's scouts, but not present at Trafalgar; instead, she lay dismasted in Lisbon harbour. ''Unité'', and shared in the capture of the ''Buona Esperanza'' on 19 July 1807 and the ''Bizzaro'', on 21 August. The bankruptcy of the prize agents meant that some prize money was not distributed until 21 years later, in 1828. The fourth and final payment for ''Bizzarro'' did not occur until July 1850. Under Captain Patrick Campbell ''Unite'' was the first frigate to enter the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

and during the spring of 1808 captured a string of French and Italian gunboats and coastal merchant vessels, notably the 16-gun sister-

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 ...

s , and , the first on 2 May 1808 off Cape Promontore, Istria, and then the second two on 1 June 1808 off

Zara Zara may refer to: Businesses * Zara (retailer), a fashion retail company based in Spain * Zara Investment Holding, a Jordanian holding company * Continental Hotel Zara, Budapest, Hungary People and fictional characters * Zara (name), primari ...

. Campbell reported no casualties in the capture of ''Ronco''. ''Teulié'' lost five men killed and 16 wounded before she

struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Struck Adolf Hermann Struck (1877–1911) was a German sightseer and writer. He is known for his Travel literature, travelogue ''Makedonische Fahrten'' and for surveying the ...

; ''Nettuno'' lost seven killed, two drowned, and 13 wounded. The Royal Navy took all three into service, ''Ronco'' under the name HMS ''Tuscan'', ''Teulié'' under the name HMS ''Roman'', and ''Nettuno'' under the name HMS ''Cretan''. On 19 May 1810 ''Unite'' captured the French privateer ''Du Guay Trouin'' of 10 guns and 116 men. By 1811 ''Unite'' was still operating in the Mediterranean, under Captain Chamberlayne. On 31 March 1811, ''Unite'' and encountered a French squadron comprising the frigates and , and the armed transport French corvette . ''Ajax'' captured ''Dromadaire'', while the frigates managed to escape to

Portoferraio Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest town. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny h ...

. Captain Otway of ''Ajax'' reported that ''Dromadaire'' was frigate-built and sailed remarkably well. Her cargo consisted of 15,000 shot and shells of various sizes and 90 tons of gunpowder. Apparently

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Bonaparte intended them as a present for

Hammuda ibn Ali Abu Mohammed Hammuda ibn Ali Pasha (9 December 1759 – 15 September 1814) () was the fifth leader of the Husainid dynasty and the ruler of Tunisia from 26 May 1782 until his death on 15 September 1814. He was the son of Ali II ibn Hussein. He ...

, the

Bey of Tunis Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic languages, Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of various ...

. Admiral Sir

Charles Cotton Charles Cotton (28 April 1630 – 16 February 1687) was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from French, for his contributions to ''The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential ''The Complea ...

, commander in chief of the British

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

, decided to buy her and her stores for the

. On 1 May, ''Unite'' participated in the destruction of the French vessels ''Giraffe'', , and an armed merchant man sheltering near the island at Sagone, with the help of and . Through the summer ''Unite'' operated off the mouth of the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

and in the autumn she was once again sent to the Adriatic, participating in the

action of 29 November 1811 The action of 29 November 1811 was a minor naval engagement fought between two frigate squadrons in the Adriatic Sea during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. The action was one of a series of operations conducted by the British Roya ...

at which she captured the armed storeship . On 16 June 1812 boats from ''Unite'', and captured three vessels of from eighty to one hundred tons in the small port of Badisea, near Otranto. On 9 November 1812 ''Unite'' was in sight when captured ''Nebrophonus''.

Post-war and fate

By 1815, ''Unite'' was back in Britain in reserve at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

and she remained there until converted for harbour service in 1832. Between 1841 and 1858, she was used as a prison hulk. The ship was eventually broken up in January 1858 at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

Notes

Citations

References

* *
Ships of the Old Navy

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Imperieuse (1793) Frigates of the Royal Navy 1787 ships Maritime incidents in 1793 Captured ships