French Frigate Minerve (1809)
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French Frigate Minerve (1809)
The French frigate ''Minerve'' was originally launched in 1788 for the Portuguese Navy, where she served under the dual names of ''Nossa Senhora da Vitória'' and ''Minerva''. The French Navy captured and renamed her in November 1809, after which she played a notable role in the Indian Ocean campaign of 1809-1811, participating in the defeat of a Royal Navy frigate squadron at the Battle of Grand Port, but at the surrender of Mauritius in December 1810, the ship was handed over to the British, and seems to have been broken up soon afterwards. Design and construction The ''Nossa Senhora da Vitória'' was built at Lisbon by the shipbuilder Torcato Jose Clavina, and launched on 18 July 1788, or according to some other sources, 19 July in the same year. A standard modern work on the Portuguese navy of this period states the ship's hull length at 156 feet 9 inches, and her beam (the breadth of the hull) at a very wide 58 feet. Conversely, an equivalent work quoting French sources sta ...
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Battle Of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Isle de France (now Mauritius) during the Napoleonic Wars. The British squadron of four frigates sought to blockade the port to prevent its use by the French through the capture of the fortified Île de la Passe at its entrance. This position was seized by a British landing party on 13 August and, when a French squadron under Captain Guy-Victor Duperré approached the bay nine days later, the British commander, Captain Samuel Pym, decided to lure them into coastal waters where his forces could ambush them. Four of the five French ships managed to break past the British blockade, taking shelter in the protected anchorage, which was only accessible through a series of complicated routes between reefs and sandbanks that were impassable without an experienced harbou ...
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Forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " before the mast" which denotes anything related to ordinary sailors, as opposed to a ship's officers. History and design In medieval shipbuilding, a ship of war was usually equipped with a tall, multi-deck castle-like structure in the bow of the ship. It served as a platform for archers to shoot down on enemy ships, or as a defensive stronghold if the ship were boarded. A similar but usually much larger structure, called the aftcastle, was at the aft end of the ship, often stretching all the way from the main mast to the stern. Having such tall upper works on the ship was detrimental to sailing performance. As cannons were introduced and gunfire replaced boarding as the primary means of naval combat during the 16th century, the medieval ...
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French Corvette Revenant
''Revenant'' was a 20-gun privateer corvette, launched in 1807, and designed by Robert Surcouf for commerce raiding. The French Navy later requisitioned her and renamed her ''Iéna'', after Napoleon's then-recent victory at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt. The British captured her in 1808 and she served in the Royal Navy as HMS ''Victor''. The French Navy recaptured her in 1809, taking her back into service under the new name. The British again captured her when they took Isle de France (now Mauritius) in December 1810. They did not restore her to service and she was subsequently broken up. Career Her coppered hull allowed her to sail at up to 12 knots. Her cost was 277,761 francs-or. One of her owners was the banker Jacques Récamier. Indian ocean cruises (1807 - 1808) In February 1807, Surcouf enlisted Potier as first officer on his new privateer ''Revenant''.Cunat, p.412 ''Revenant'' then departed from Saint-Malo on 2 March, and sailed for Isle de France. ''Revenant'' arriv ...
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Striking The Colours
Striking the colors—meaning lowering the flag (the "colors") that signifies a ship's or garrison's allegiance—is a universally recognized indication of surrender, particularly for ships at sea. For a ship, surrender is dated from the time the ensign is struck. In international law "Colours. A national flag (or a battle ensign). The colours . . . are hauled down as a token of submission." International law absolutely requires a ship of war to fly its ensign at the commencement of any hostile acts, i.e., before firing on the enemy. During battle there is no purpose in striking the colors other than to indicate surrender. It was and is an offense to continue to fight after striking one's colors, and an offense to continue to fire on an enemy after she has struck her colors, unless she indicates by some other action, such as continuing to fire or seeking to escape, that she has not truly surrendered. For this reason, striking the colors is conclusive evidence of a surrender ha ...
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Night Action
Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends on the location and varies throughout the year, based on factors such as season and latitude. The word can be used in a different sense as the time between bedtime and morning. In common communication, the word ''night'' is used as a farewell ("good night", sometimes shortened to "night"), mainly when someone is going to sleep or leaving. Astronomical night is the period between astronomical dusk and astronomical dawn when the Sun is between 18 and 90 degrees below the horizon and does not illuminate the sky. As seen from latitudes between about 48.56° and 65.73° north or south of the Equator, complete darkness does not occur around the summer solstice because, although the Sun sets, it is never more than 18° below the horizon at lower c ...
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Weather Gauge
The weather gage (sometimes spelled weather gauge) is the advantageous position of a fighting sailing ship, sailing vessel relative to another. It is also known as "nautical gauge" as it is related to the sea shore. The concept is from the Age of Sail and is now antique. A ship at sea is said to possess the weather gage if it is in any position upwind of the other vessel. Proximity with the land, tidal and stream effects and wind variability due to geography (hills, cliffs, etc.) may also come into play. An upwind vessel is able to manoeuvre at will toward any downwind point, since the relative wind then moves aft. A vessel downwind of another, in attempting to attack upwind, is constrained to trim sail as the relative wind moves forward and cannot point too far into the wind for fear of being headed. In sailing warfare, when Tacking (sailing), beating to windward, the vessel experiences Heeling (sailing), heeling under the sideward pressure of the wind. This restricts gunnery, as c ...
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Guy-Victor Duperré
Guy-Victor Duperré (20 February 1775 – 2 November 1846) was a French naval officer and Admiral of France. He is known for commanding French naval forces in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–11 and was victorious in the Battle of Grand Port, where he was wounded. Later he had a command in the Mediterranean and continued to serve during and after the Bourbon Restoration. He commanded the naval elements of the expeditionary force that carried out the Invasion of Algiers in 1830 and went on to become Minister of the Navy three times. Early years and education Duperré was born on20 February 1775 in La RochelleB. Barbiche, ''Les institutions de la monarchie française à l'époque moderne'', Presses universitaires de France, 1999. to Jean Augustin Duperré, counselor of the king and financer for war, and Marie-Gabrielle Prat-Desprez. He spent a few years with the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri at the Collège de Juilly, before enlisting at 16 on the ''Henri IV'', a French East I ...
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French Frigate Bellone (1807)
''Bellone'' was a 44-gun ''Consolante''-class frigate of the French Navy. French service ''Bellone'', under the command of Guy-Victor Duperré, departed Saint-Malo on 18 January 1809, bound for the Indian Ocean. She sailed from La Réunion for a combat patrol in August. On 2 November she captured HMS ''Victor''. Twenty days later, she captured the 48-gun Portuguese ''Minerva'' after a 2-hour battle. ''Bellone'' sailed back to La Réunion with her prize, arriving on 2 January 1810. In April 1810, the squadron comprising ''Bellone'', ''Minerve'' and ''Victor'' departed for another patrol, during which they fought the action of 3 July 1810 and the Battle of Grand Port. ''Bellone'' was surrendered to the British when Île de France fell, on 4 December 1810. British service ''Bellone'' was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS ''Junon''. In June 1812, ''Junon'' escorted a convoy from Portsmouth to India. On 8 February 1813, nine boats and 200 men of the squadron of which ...
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Hammock
A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a woven network of twine or thin rope stretched with ropes between two firm anchor points such as trees or posts. Hammocks were developed by native inhabitants of the Americas for sleeping, as well as the English people, English. Later, they were used aboard ships by sailors to enable comfort and maximize available space, by explorers or soldiers travelling in wooded regions and eventually by parents in the early 1920s for containing babies just learning to crawl. Today they are popular around the world for relaxation; they are also used as a lightweight bed on camping trips. The hammock is often seen as a symbol of summer, leisure, recreation, relaxation and simple living, simple, easy living. Etymology The word ...
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Warren Hastings (1802 EIC Ship)
''Warren Hastings'' was a three-decker East Indiaman, launched in 1802. The French captured her in 1805 during her second voyage for the East India Company and sold her to Danish owners. The British recaptured her in January 1808, and within a year thereafter she was again in her former owner's hands. She then made several more voyages for the company. Career First EIC voyage (1803–1804) Captain Thomas Larkins sailed ''Warren Hasting'' for China, leaving The Downs on 6 April 1803 and arriving at Whampoa on 28 August. Before she arrived she rescued a dozen or so Chinese sailors. A gale had caught their three "tchuans" and sunk them, causing the loss of some 500 people. The same gale had also caught the East Indiaman , causing her loss, together with that of the 120 or so people aboard her. Larkins had left Britain during the Peace of Amiens so he did not apply for a letter of marque. However, the Peace broke down in May 1803. Larkins received a letter of marque on 16 Septem ...
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East Indiaman
East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vessels belonging to the Austrian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Portuguese, or Swedish companies. Some of the East Indiamen chartered by the British East India Company were known as "tea clippers". In Britain, the East India Company held a monopoly granted to it by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1600 for all English trade between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. This grant was progressively restricted during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, until the monopoly was lost in 1834. English (later British) East Indiamen usually ran between England, the Cape of Good Hope and India, where their primary destinations were the ports of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. The Indiamen often continued on to China before returning to England via t ...
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