''Diligente'' was a

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 ...

''Naïade''-class corvette, launched in 1794 as a brig. captured her in the Antilles in 1800. The British took her into service as a 14-gun transport and sold her in 1814.

French service

''Diligente'' was a sister ship to ''Naïade''. They were built to a plan by Pierre-Agustin Lamothe. The Royal Navy captured ''Naïade'' in 1806 and took her into service as HMS ''Melville''; she was sold for breaking up in 1811. Between 30 Mar 1794 and 29 May, ''Diligente'' was under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Lacouture. Then from 9 June to 15 December ''Diligente'' was under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Noguez. Under these lieutenants' command, ''Diligente'' conducted a cruise into the Bay of Biscay, returning to Lorient, visited Brest, cruised into the Atlantic, escorted a convoy to the

Île-d'Aix Île-d'Aix () is a commune and an island in the Charente-Maritime department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Poitou-Charentes), off the west coast of France. It occupies the territory of the small Isle of Aix (''île d'Aix''), in the ...

roads, cruised the region around the Azores and returned to Brest, and escorted a convoy from Camaret to

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 ...

.Fonds Marine, 1790-1804. Between 18 March 1795 and 25 July ''Diligente'' was in Saint-Malo roads, cruised in the bay of

Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. History Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who Christianised the region in the 6th c ...

and bay of Granville, and returned to Saint Malo. Around 17 July 1797, ''Diligente'' escorted a convoy from Mindin (opposite

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

) to Larmor, while still under Noguez's command, who had by then been promoted to ''capitaine de frégate''.

Quasi War The Quasi-War (french: Quasi-guerre) was an undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States. The ability of Congress ...

:On 6 September, 1799, under command of "Citizen" Du Bois, she captured American merchantman "America" at () in the Atlantic Ocean.

War of Knives The War of Knives (French: ''Guerre des couteaux''), also known as the War of the South, was a civil war from June 1799 to July 1800 between the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, a black ex-slave who controlled the north of Saint-Domi ...

and

:Shortly after 3 December, 1799 she encountered , but no action took place as she was convoying troops of General Toussaint for the Haitian Revolution, seemingly carrying a US pass. Anchored at Cape Nicola, St Domingo on 7 December, 1799.

Capture

In July 1800 the frigate captured ''Diligente'', which was armed with twelve 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 130 men. The Royal Navy took her into service as a 14-gun transport under her existing name.

Royal Navy service

There is little information readily available on line about the storeship ''Diligente''s career as she was never registered. The

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

(NMM) has a drawing of her lines, made in 1811. The NMM describes her as serving as a storeship at Woolwich. In 1807 Rcd. Turner was master. In 1809 Thomas Miller was appointed to the ''Diligente'' storeship. In 1810 Mr. T. Hoskins was appointed to command the ''Diligente'' store-ship.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 23, p.438. In 1812-1813 Edward Ives was master. Lastly, Donald McDonald was master in 1814.

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References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diligente (1794) 1794 ships Corvettes of the French Navy Ships built in France Brigs of the Royal Navy Captured ships