''Naïade'' was a 20-gun ''Coquette''-class corvette. She took part in the Indian theatre of the
Anglo-French War with the squadron under
Suffren. The British
Royal Navy captured her in 1783 but never commissioned her; it sold her in 1784.
French service
On 11 February 1782, ''Naïade'' departed
Brest. She called
Isle de France (
Mauritius) and arrived at
Cuddalore on 10 March 1782 to support the squadron under
Suffren.
In November 1782, she was at
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
under
Costebelle
Costebelle is a quarter of the town of Hyères in the southeast of France, in the Var
Var or VAR may refer to:
Places
* Var (department), a department of France
* Var (river), France
* Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* ...
.
On 11 April, ''Captaine de Brûlot''
Villaret de Joyeuse was given command of ''Naïade''. Suffren sent her to
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
to warn the French blockading squadron, composed of the
74-gun ''Fendant'', the 64-gun
''Saint-Michel'' and the frigates
''Cléopâtre'' and
''Coventry'', of the imminent arrival of a superior British force. Three days after her departure, on 11 April 1783, ''Naïade'' spotted the 64-gun
HMS ''Sceptre'', under Captain Graves;
after trying without success to elude his much stronger opponent, Villaret was forced into battle, and
struck his colours after a five-hour fight.
When Villaret surrendered his sword, Graves allegedly told him "Sir, you have given us a fairly beautiful frigate, but you made us pay dearly for her!"; some authors add that Graves returned Villaret his sword.
British service
The British armed ''Naïade'' with twenty-two 12-pounder guns, and two 18-pounder and six 12-pounder
carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...
, but never commissioned her. From 26 April 1783, she was under Lieutenant
Richard Strachan
Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB (27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral. Sir Dicky, as his friends r ...
.
Fate
''Naïade'' was sold on 17 August 1784.
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naiade (1780)
1780 ships
Corvettes of the French Navy
Captured ships
Sloops of the Royal Navy