French Corvette Etna (1795)

''Etna'' was a French naval ship-sloop launched in 1795 that the Royal Navy captured in November 1796. She was taken into service as HMS ''Aetna'' and renamed to HMS ''Cormorant'' the next year. She captured several merchant vessels and privateers before she was wrecked in 1800 off the coast of Egypt.

Capture

''Etna''s first commander was ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Coudre Lacoudrais. By the time of her capture off Barfleur, he had received a promotion to ''capitaine de frégate''.

In the night of 13 to 14 November 1796, ''Etna'' departed Le Havre, and was chased in the morning by and , which she tried to distance. ''Melampus'' came within range around 15:30 ''Etna'' resisted for two hours before striking her colours as joined the battle.

The ''London Gazette'' reported that on 13 November and drove a French navy corvette ashore near Barfleur. However the British were not able to get close enough to assure her destruction. Then ''Melampus'' and captured another corvette, which was the ''Etna''. ''Etna'' was armed with eighteen 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 137 men under the command of Citizen Joseph La Coudrais. The prisoners stated that both corvettes were carrying military and naval stores and that the corvette that had run ashore was the ''Etonnant''. Both were new ships on their first cruise.

Captain Coudre Lacoudrais was found innocent of the loss of his ship by the court-martial.

British service

''Etna'' arrived in Portsmouth in November and the Royal Navy took her into service as HMS ''Aetna''. However, she then underwent fitting out until 25 July 1797. At some point she was renamed HMS ''Cormorant'' and was classed as a post ship.

Captain John Clarke Searle commissioned ''Cormorant'' in May 1797. On 14 November she recaptured ''George''.

At some point Captain Lord Mark Kerr replaced Searle. While ''Cormorant'' was under Kerr's command, she, and recaptured the American vessel ''Betty''. Then on 24 November 1797 ''Cormorant'' was in company with ''Cynthia'' and ''Grand Falconer'' when they captured the French merchant sloop ''Necessaire''.

In January 1798 ''Cormorant'' was in Sir Richard Strachan's squadron. On 15 February she captured the Prussian ship ''Welvaert''. On 29 May ''Cormorant'' captured the brig ''Pruyiche Koopman''.

''Cormorant'' sailed for the Mediterranean in September 1798. ''Cormorant'', , and HMS ''Pomone'', convoyed a large fleet of merchantmen and transports to Lisbon. The convoy included the East Indiamen ''Royal Charlotte'', ''Cuffnells'', , and ''Alligator''. On 25 September the convoy encountered a French fleet of nine sail, consisting of one eighty-gun ship and eight frigates. The convoy commander signalled the Company's ships to form line of battle with the Royal Navy ships, and the convoy to push for Lisbon. This manoeuvre, and the warlike appearance of the Indiamen, deterred the French admiral from attacking them; the whole fleet reached Lisbon in safety.

On 27 October ''Cormorant'' captured the French privateer ''Tartar''. In November she assisted in the British recapture of Minorca on 7 November. On 10 November she took possession in the harbour of Port Mahon of the Spanish ship ''Francisco Xavier'', alias ''Esperansa'', which had a cargo of drugs and bale goods and which had been on her way to Cadiz. A part of the proceeds of the prize money, head money, and the like for the capture of Minorca amounted to £20,000 and was paid in May 1800 to the British army and navy units involved.

On 2 January 1799, ''Cormorant'' captured the Spanish 12-gun packet ''Valiente'' (or ''Valianta'') off Malaga. Letters received at Plymouth from Gibraltar reported that

''Cormorant''... had captured a Spanish packet from Rio di Plata for Barcelona, very valuable. One boat was lost in boarding the packet, crew saved. Lieutenant W. Wooltiridge then gallantly boarded her in the jolly boat with eight men, took possession of her though there were fifty five Spaniards, and brought her into Gibraltar.

Between 28 January and 9 February ''Cormorant'' cruised the Spanish coast with . ''Cormorant'' captured one tartane, drove another ashore, and captured a settee carrying oil.

Then on 16 March, ''Centaur'' and ''Cormorant'' chased the Spanish frigate ''Guadaloupe'', of 40 guns. ''Centaur'' drove ''Guadaloupe'' aground near Cape Oropesa, where she was wrecked.

''Cormorant'' parted company with ''Centaur'' during the chase and then on the 19th, as she was proceeding to the rendezvous, she sighted a brig. After a chase of four hours, ''Cormorant'' captured the Spanish naval brig ''Vincejo''. ''Vincejo'' was armed with eighteen 6-pounder guns on her gun deck, six brass 4-pounders on her quarterdeck, and two on her forecastle. She also had a crew of 144 men. During the chase ''Vincejo'' threw six of her 6-pounders overboard. The Royal Navy took her into service as .

In September Captain Courtenay Boyle replaced Kerr. Also, at some point ''Cormorant'' captured the Spanish xebec ''Vergen de la Victoria''.

On 2 December ''Cormorant'' was in sight and joined in the chase when encountered a French lugger. After an hour's chase ''Racoon'' captured her quarry, which proved to be the ''Vrai Decide'', of 14 guns and four swivel guns. ''Vrai Decide'' had 41 men on board, under the command of Citizen Defgardi. The lugger was from Boulogne, had been out 30 hours in company with three other privateers, and had taken no prizes.

On 20 February 1800 ''Cormorant'' recaptured the ''Elizabeth Jane'', of London, which had been sailing from the Bahamas. She had had 25 Frenchmen aboard. She separated from ''Cormorant'' on the 24th.

That evening at ''Cormorant'' captured the Spanish privateer brig ''Batador'' (or ''Battidor''). ''Batador'' was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 87 men. She was eight days out of St. Andero on a three-month cruise, but had not yet made any captures. The wind and seas were bad and it was difficult to get a prize crew of volunteers aboard ''Batador'', and it proved impossible to remove the prisoners. The Spanish crew twice tried to recapture their vessel and were twice subdued.

Fate

''Cormorant'' was sailing to Egypt with dispatches for Sir Sidney Smith when she reached the African coast near Benghazi on 15 May. She then sailed for Alexandria, skirting the coast. That evening she ran hard aground in shallow water. In the morning the shore was visible about a mile and a half away, with what proved to be the town of Damietta, which is east of Alexandria, in the distance. When it became clear that they could not free ''Cormorant'', the crew abandoned ship, reaching the shore on boats and rafts. There the French took them prisoner.

Boyle, his officers, and his men remained prisoners until their release on 27 July, having suffered a "cruel imprisonment and savage treatment". Boyle sailed to Cyprus and then Minorca. The subsequent court-martial at Minorca absolved Boyle of any blame, attributing the loss to the "great incorrectness" of the available charts.

Notes

Citations

References

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* Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier: BB210 à 482 (1805-18826

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Etna (1795)
Post ships of the Royal Navy
1795 ships
Captured ships
Ships built in France
Etna-class corvettes
Corvettes of the French Navy
Shipwrecks of Egypt
Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea