''Décius'' was a
''Société populaire''-class corvette launched in 1795 in Brest. Originally named ''Doucereuse'', she was renamed to ''Décius'' in 1795. 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 ...
destroyed her in November 1796.
Career
''Décius'' was appointed to the Saint Martin station in 1796, under Lieutenant
. On 27 November, she took part in the French invasion of
Anguilla
Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territo ...
, along with the gun-brig
''Vaillante'', and three schooners.
[Quintin, p.341] In the raid, the French captured 21 ships and took 900 prisoners. Returning to Guadeloupe, the French flotilla encountered the frigate , under Captain R. Barton. ''Décius'' engaged ''Lapwing'' in order to cover the retreat of the weaker ships, and fought for two hours before
striking her colours.
''Lapwing'' then destroyed ''Vaillante'', and took possession of ''Décius''. Barton found that she had suffered about 80 men killed and 40 wounded. He took 170 prisoners. The next day two French frigates, and
''Pensée'', chased ''Lapwing''. Barton took the prisoners aboard ''Lapwing'' and set fire to ''Décius''. ''Lapwing'' then returned to St Kitts.
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Décius (1795)
1795 ships
Corvettes of the French Navy
Captured ships