Pierre-Édouard Plucket (

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, 11 October 1759 —

, 4 September 1845; sometimes written "Plucket"RouvierGallois and even "Tulki",Gallois, vol.1, p.285) was a French Navy officer and privateer.

Career

Plucket started sailing on a privateer in 1778; he was taken prisoner in England after the British captured his ship, and was exchanged after several escape attempts. Promoted to officer, he took command of a merchantman and was almost wrecked in Ireland in July 1791; rescued, he took several soldiers hostage to avoid paying salvage fees and escaped, returning his captives on fishing ships encountered en route.Gallois, vol.1, p.286 After the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...

broke out, Plucket took command of the privateer brig ''Sans-Culotte nantais'', with fourteen 4-pounder guns. In March, he captured two Dutch and six British ships.Gallois, vol.1, p.287 Plucket then transferred on the 18-gun brig ''Patriote de Brest'', property of the State. On 15 May, he battled a 26-gun British corvette for one hour, before the ships parted. On the 24th, he engaged a 20-gun

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

,Gallois, vol.1, p.288. trying unsuccessfully to board her before a British frigate drove him away.Gallois, vol.1, p.289. On 1 June, ''Patriote'' sprang a leak, forcing Plucket to jettison all but two of his guns, and make a hasty return to Brest; chased by British 28-gun corvette on the 6th, he fought a three-hour running battle before reaching the safety of

Île de Batz The Île de Batz (; ) is an island off Roscoff in Brittany, France. Administratively, it is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Climate Île de Batz has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classificatio ...

. ''Patriote'' then returned to Brest by way of

Morlaix Morlaix (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 Septembe ...

, taking passage with a convoy escorted by two corvettes.Gallois, vol.1, p.291 The population gave the wounded Plucket a triumphal reception and the nickname of "second Jean Bart". Plucket then joined the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant. He served on the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...

s ''Tigre'' and ''Jemmapes'', taking part in the

Atlantic campaign of May 1794 The Atlantic campaign of May 1794 was a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy's Channel Fleet against the French Navy's Atlantic Fleet, with the aim of preventing the passage of a strategically important French grain convoy ...

.Gallois, vol.1, p.292 On 5 October 1795, he took command of the corvette ''Jalouse''. , under the command of Captain Charles White, captured ''Jalouse'' at about 5a.m. on 13 May near Elsinor after a chase of about nine hours and running about 84 hours. Plucket was taken prisoner but escaped, disguised as a physician, and returned to Amsterdam and from there to France. The court-martial reviewing the loss of ''Jalouse'' acquitted him.Gallois, vol.1, p.299 Plucket then took command of the privateer ''Résolu'', chartered to ferry troops to Ireland. He took four prizes but had to abandon two of them to escape a frigate and a cutter.Gallois, vol.1, p.300 He eventually returned to Calais after 78 days, having captured 19 ships.Gallois, vol.1, p.301 Plucket then returned to the Navy as second-in-command of the frigate ''Poursuivante'', under Castaignier. He later took temporary command of ''Poursuivante'', before passing it to Lhermitte. Unable to garner financial gain from his prizes, he retired and eventually returned to Dunkirk.

Honours

* Promoted to Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

on 21 September 1840.

Legacy

* A street in Dunkirk has born his name since 30 October 1958.

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * ''Mémoires de Plucket (Pierre Édouard) de Dunkerque, ancien lieutenant de Vaisseau et chevalier de la légion d'honneur'' (Westhoek-Éditions, 1843 {{DEFAULTSORT:Plucket, Pierre-Edouard French sailors French privateers 1759 births 1845 deaths French Navy officers