The French brig ''Duc de Chartres'' was built between 1779 and 1780 at Le Havre as a 24-gun

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

. As a privateer she captured one British warship before in 1781 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. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS ''Duc de Chartres''. She then captured several American privateers and armed merchant vessels, and one French naval corvette in a noteworthy

single-ship action A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions. Single-shi ...

. The Navy sold ''Duc de Chartres'' in 1784.

Privateer

''Duc de Chartres'' captured HMS ''Pluto'', a 16-gun

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, on 30 November 1780. ''Pluto'', under the command of Commander Thomas Geary, was about 140 miles south west of the Scilly Isles in drifting fog when she sighted a ship. Cautious, ''Pluto'' prepared for action and when the two vessels passed each other, they exchanged broadsides. ''Duc de Chartres'' turned and gave chase, catching up with her quarry. Unable to escape, and outgunned, ''Pluto'' struck. ''Duc de Chartres'' also captured the hired brig ''Earl of Inchquin'' on 15 March 1781. ''Earl of Inchquin'', of six guns and under the command of Lieutenant William Robertson, was in the Channel when she encountered ''Duc de Chartres'', which gave chase. The French privateers ''Bougainville'' (24 or 32 guns), and ''Tartare'' (12 guns), joined the chase. Unable to escape, Robertson struck. In March 1781 ''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...

'' reported that ''Duc de Chartres'' had captured the Bristol privateer ''Chance'', Webb, master. In spring 1781, Admiral

George Darby Vice Admiral George Darby (c.1720 – 1790) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded HMS ''Norwich'' at the capture of Martinique in 1762 during the Seven Years' War. He went on to command the Channel Fleet during the American Revolutionary ...

sailed a fleet to Gibraltar to relieve the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

for a second time. On the way the fleet captured ''Duc de Chartres'', the Spanish frigate ''Santa Leucadia'', and the French brig ''Trois Amis''. Although executed the actual capture of ''Duc de Chartres'', the entire British fleet of 42 vessels shared in the resulting prize money. At the time of her capture ''Duc de Chartres'' was under the command of Jean-Baptiste l'Écolier. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS ''Duc de Chartres''. The capture of ''Leocadia'' took place in the action of 1 May 1781, off

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 ...

. The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS ''Leocadia''.

HMS ''Duc de Chartres''

Between 26 May and 17 September ''Duc de Chartres'' was at Portsmouth undergoing

coppering Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...

and fitting. The Royal Navy commissioned ''Duc de Chartres'' under Commander John Child Purvis on 7 October 1781 and he immediately sailed her for North America. Around August 1782 ''Duc de Chartres'' captured the Connecticut letter of marque schooner ''Turn of Times''. She was armed with four guns and had a crew of 25 men under the command of John Cook. She had sailed to

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state fro ...

and was on her return voyage when the British captured her and sent her into Bermuda. On 9 August 1782, ''Duc de Chartres'' encountered the French navy's corvette ''Aigle'', of 22 guns and 136 men. In the subsequent hour-long action, ''Aigle'' lost 13 men killed, including her captain, and 15 wounded; ''Duc de Chartres'' had no casualties. On 15 March 1783 the British frigates and , and ''Duc de Chartres'' captured the Massachusetts letter of marque ''Julius Caesar''. ''Julius Caesar'' was a privateer of eighteen 9-pounder guns and carried a crew of 100 men under the command of Captain Thomas Benson, of Salem. Her captors sent her into New York City where the

Vice admiralty court Vice Admiralty Courts were juryless courts located in British colonies that were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities, such as disputes between merchants and seamen. American Colonies American maritime act ...

condemned her. ''Duc de Chartres'' captured the Connecticut armed brig ''Thetis'' on 2 April. ''Thetis'', of 100 tons (bm) and six guns, had a crew of 21 men under the command of Robert Colfax. She was tried and condemned at New York. The highly successful action against ''Aigle'' led, on 1 September 1783, to Purvis receiving promotion to

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

.''Gentleman's Magazine'', (1825), Vol. 21, p.563. Commander John Shairp replaced Purvis. Then in 1784 Captain William Afleck replaced Shairp for the purpose of sailing ''Duc de Chartres'' back to Britain.

Fate

''Duc de Chartres'' was paid off in May 1784. The Navy sold her on 1 July for £700.

Notes, citations and references

Notes Citations References * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duc de Chartres (1780 Le Havre) 1780 ships Privateer ships of France Captured ships Sloops of the Royal Navy