The French brig ''Colombe'' was launched in 1795 for 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 ...

. She had a minor role in the mutiny on . The British captured her in 1803. She never served on active duty in 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 ...

but instead was immediately laid-up. She was broken up in 1811.

Design

''Colombe'' had been built as a one-off to plans by

Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait (21 April 1752, Rouen – 8 November 1807, Rouen) was a French engineer, hydrographer and politician, and Minister of the Navy. Career Born to a family of rich merchants, Forfait studied at a Jesuit college in Ro ...

that Pierre Ozanne had modified. She had two masts and was flat-bottomed. Contemporary records suggest that her design was appropriate for vessels intended to guard river openings. ''Colombe'' may have been a smaller version of the contemporary ''Etna''-class corvettes.

French service and capture

HMS ''Danae'': On 14 March 1800

mutineers Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among memb ...

took control of ''Danae''. The following morning ''Danae'' reached

Le Conquet Le Conquet (; br, Konk-Leon) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. This is the westernmost town of mainland France. Only three insular towns—Ouessant, Île-Molène and Ile de Sein—are further west The ...

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

, where they met up with ''Colombe'', which ''Danae'' had herself chased into the port. ''Danae'' and ''Colombe'' then sailed together to Brest. On the way the frigates and chased them briefly before breaking off after the mutineers falsely signaled that they were in pursuit of ''Colombe''. The French treated Captain Lord William Proby, his officers, and the loyal seamen well, and then paroled them. French records state that ''Colombe'', under the command of ''capitaine de frégate'' Julien, encountered ''Danae'' at

Pointe Saint-Mathieu The pointe Saint-Mathieu (Lok Mazé in Breton) is a headland located near Le Conquet in the territory of the commune of Plougonvelin in France, flanked by 20m high cliffs. Village At present, there are only a few houses on the point, grouped aroun ...

. Capture: On 18 June 1803, and captured ''Colombe''. ''Colombe'' was copper-bottomed and pierced for 16 guns. She had a crew of 65 men under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Caro. ''Colombe'' had been returning from Martinique and was 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 *Br ...

when the British captured her off

Ouessant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

. ''Colombe'' was effectively unarmed when captured. By one contemporary account, her cannons were in the hold.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 10, p.83. Later, Admiralty records indicated that she had left her 12-pounder guns in Martinique. When she arrived at Plymouth, ''Colombe'' reported that she was the forerunner of a French fleet from Martinique consisting of a Seventy-four, two frigates, and 60 merchant vessels. ''Dragon'' communicated this intelligence to 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 ...

, which dispersed to attempt to intercept what they could.

Fate

''Colombe'' arrived at Plymouth on 6 July. Royal Navy nominally took her into service as HMS ''Colombe'', but never fitted or commissioned her. The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered the sloop ''Colombe'', lying at Plymouth, for sale on 18 October 1810. Despite her sale being advertised several times, she apparently did not sell. She was docked at Plymouth on 2 July 1811 for breaking up.

Citations and references

Citations References *Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier: BB1 à 209 (1780-1804

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colombe (1795) 1795 ships Brigs of the French Navy Captured ships Brigs of the Royal Navy