''Brave'', launched at Le Havre in 1793, was the name vessel of a two-vessel class of brig-rigged ''canonnières'', i.e., gun-brigs. 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 t ...
renamed her ''Arrogante'' in May 1795. The
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
captured her on 23 or 24 April 1798. The British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
took her into service as HMS ''Arrogante'', but renamed her HMS ''Insolent'' some four months later. She was sold in June 1818.
French career
As the ''corvette-canonnière'' ''Brave'', she was stationed at the Bay of Audierne. Between 4 February 1793 and 7 August she was under the command of ''sous-lieutenant de vaisseau'' (later ''lieutenant de vaisseau'') Massard and escorted convoys between Le Havre and
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
.''Fonds Marine'', p. 56. From 27 August to 25 October she was under the command of ''
enseigne de vaisseau non entretenu ''Enseigne de vaisseau non entretenu'' (literally: "Ensign without a salary") was a junior naval rank in the French Navy during the Revolutionary Wars.
The duties of an ''Enseigne de vaisseau non entretenu'' were the same as those of an ''enseign ...
'' Bourhis.
Between 11 April 1794 and 28 July she was stationed first at
Verdon Verdon may refer to:
People
*Verdon (surname)
Places
France
* Verdon, Dordogne, in the Dordogne ''département''
* Verdon, Marne, in the Marne ''département''
* Vinon-sur-Verdon, an old French town in the département of Var, Provence-Alpes-Cô ...
and then at the
Gironde estuary
The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Gar ...
. There she carried dispatches from Brest to Verdon.
Still under Bourhis's command, between 13 May 1795 to 8 July, ''Brave'' sailed from Brest à
Audierne
Audierne (; br, Gwaien) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016 the former commune of Esquibien merged into Audierne.Camaret roads, and then escorted a transport from le Conquet to Brest.
In May 1795 the French Navy renamed ''Brave'' to ''Arrogante'', and changed her classification from ''corvette-canonnière'' to ''canonnière''.
On 21 April 1796 ''Arrogante'' was under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Le Bastard when she engaged a British squadron in the Audierne
roads
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
. On 25 July 1797 she was at Brest and still under Le Bastard's command.
Almost exactly two years later, on 23 April 1798 ''Arrogante'' was under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Lambour and escorting a convoy between Audierne and Brest. French records report that while she was in the
Iroise Sea
Iroise () or the Iroise Sea (french: mer d'Iroise ; br, An Hirwazh) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean which stretches from the Ile de Sein to Ushant off the coast of Brittany in north-western France. It is contained within the Celtic Sea, borderin ...
she encountered two English frigates, and .
Capture
British records report that , and were in sight when captured ''Arrogante''. ''Arrogante'' was armed with six long 24-pounder guns and had a crew of 92 men.
British career
The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS ''Arrogante''. She arrived at Plymouth in April 1798 and she sat there. In August, the Navy renamed her HMS ''Insolent'', but did not refit her until February to April 1801. On 24 April Lieutenant Burians, a veteran officer, commissioned her.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 5, p.372.
On 21 July 1801, wrecked off the coast near
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
. Some nine days later Captain Charles Cunningham of , who commanded the small British flotilla off the coast and had just found out about the wrecking, on 1 August sent to inquire about the crew of ''Jason''. The French in Saint-Malo informed the British that the crew were all prisoners, and that the French were willing to release them on parole. On 3 August three cutters flying the
cartel
A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...
flag brought out ''Jason''s crew.''Nautical Magazine'' (1871), Vol 40, pp.367-368. Although ''Jason'' was lying on her side, masts gone, and water breaking over her, Cunningham decided to destroy her to prevent the French from recovering her.
The boats of went in on 5 August despite strong opposition from shore batteries and various armed small craft, though the larger French vessels in the harbour did not sortie. The first attempt to set ''Jason'' on fire failed. A second attempt the next day was successful as the boats from ''Weazel'', ''Insolent'', and diverted French attention.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 6, pp.251-2. On 5 October Cunningham received the news of peace with France.
Later, in October, one of ''Insolent''s boats hit a rock, with the result that her captain and three seamen drowned. The purser's daughter was on the boat and one of the seaman swam for the shore, carrying her on his back. As he swam her clothes became sodden and he informed the young woman that unless she agreed to let him remove her clothes he could not carry her further. She refused, stating that she preferred to die than compromise her virtue. He swam on for a bit with her, still clothed, on his back, but eventually, exhausted, he had to let her go and watch her drown.
On 1802 she came under the command of Lieutenant N. Hartwright, at Milford. On 1 December ''Insolent'' went into Barnpool from Hamoaze, where she had been refitted. The next day a gale of wind drove a flush of sea over the bridge of St. Nicholas and Redding Point pushed ''Insolent'' towards the rocks under Mount Edgecumbe before she was brought up in safety. At some point Hartwright paid her off.
In January 1803 Lieutenant William Smith (2nd), recommissioned her at Guernsey. On 21 May ''Insolent'' captured the French ship ''Centaure''. ''Centaur'' arrived at Plymouth on 23 May. She had sailed from Havre de Grace with provisions, shot, and shells, all bound for
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
.
''Insolents copper was replaced in January 1805 at Guernsey. In May Lieutenant Row Morris replaced Smith.
On 7 March 1807 ''Insolent'' came into Plymouth carrying French prisoners, which she landed at Mill Bay. The ''Naval Chronicle'' reports that as boat carrying the French prisoners paused for them to rest on their oars, glided majestically by, causing the prisoners to exclaim, "There goes the coup de grace for Bounaparte".
On 25 August Morris sailed ''Insolent'' to the Mediterranean.
In early July 1808, ''Insolent'' detained and sent into Plymouth the ''Augustus'', of New York, Hurdle, master. ''Augustus'' had sailed from Canton, China, in early February.
''Insolent'' was present at the
battle of Basque Roads
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads (French: ''Bataille de l'île d'Aix'', also ''Affaire des brûlots'', rarely ''Bataille de la rade des Basques''), was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in th ...
, which took place on 11 April 1809. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Basque Roads 1809" to all surviving British participants in the battle.
On 9 June 1809 ''Insolent'' captured the French lugger ''Union''. Six days later ''Insolent'' captured the brig ''Juno''; the schooner was in sight. The gun-brig was in sight. Ten days after that ''Insolent'', , and ''Arrow'' were in company when they captured the French brig ''Amitaire''. On 8 August, ''Insolent'' captured the French chasse maree ''Marie''.
From October 1809 to September 1810, ''Insolent'' was at Plymouth, undergoing a large repair. The Admiralty rerated her as a brig-sloop and commissioned her for the North Sea and the Baltic in October 1810 under the command of Commander Edward Brazier.
Under Brazier's command, ''Insolent'' captured two chasse marees, ''Providence'' (20 September 1812), and ''Trois Freres'' (23 January 1813).
In April 1812, ''Insolent '' captured a French privateer rowboat, armed with
swivel gun
The term swivel gun (or simply swivel) usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun wi ...
s, and sent her into Dover.
A gale on Sunday 18 October that continued to the next morning damaged many vessels. ''Insolent'', for one, was driven ashore at Swansea.
In December 1812 Commander John Forbes replaced Brazier.
On 26 April 1814, ''Insolent'' was in company with and when they captured the ''Euranie''.
''Insolent'' was among the vessels in the
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915.
History
Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...
under the command of Vice Admiral
Lord Keith
Baron Keith was a title that was created three times in British history, with all three creations in favour of the same person, Admiral the Honourable Sir George Keith Elphinstone. He was the fifth son of Charles Elphinstone, 10th Lord Elphinsto ...
from 1812 to 1814, and so qualifying for a share of the Parliamentary grant for her services.
In June 1814 Commander William Kelly replaced Forbes for North America.
Fate
''Insolent'' was paid off at Deptford in 1815. The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the "Insolent gun-brig, of 258 tons", lying at Deptford for sale on 11 June 1818. She was sold for £860 on that day to J. Crystall.