The ''Impérieuse'' was a 40-gun of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in th ...

. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

captured her in 1793 and she served first as HMS ''Imperieuse'' and then from 1803 as HMS ''Unite''. She became a hospital hulk in 1836 and was broken up in 1858.

French service and capture

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

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans an ...

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

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

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

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) 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 ci ...

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 tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

''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 ...

frigate HMS ''Imperieuse''.

French Revolutionary Wars: HMS ''Imperieuse''

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

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

and

Surinam Surinam may refer to: * Surinam (Dutch colony) (1667–1954), Dutch plantation colony in Guiana, South America * Surinam (English colony) (1650–1667), English short-lived colony in South America * Surinam, alternative spelling for Suriname ...

for most of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

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

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France 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 se ...

Napoleonic Wars: HMS ''Unite''

When the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

. 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 Sea) ...

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-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 latter part ...

s , and , the first on 2 May 1808 off Cape Promontore, Istria, and then the second two on 1 June 1808 off Zara. 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 (1877–1911), German author *Hermann Struck (1876–1944), German artist *Karin Struck (1947–2006), German author *Paul Struck (1776-1820), German composer *Peter Struc ...

; ''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 city. 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 Bonaparte intended them as a present for Hammuda ibn Ali, the

Bey of Tunis Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

. 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 the French, for his contributions to '' The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential '' The C ...

, 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 t ...

, 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 ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the 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 Ri ...

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 R ...

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

The Defence hulk and the Unite convict hospital ship, off Woolwich

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, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

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 in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th centur ...

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