''Gros Ventre'' was an armed storeship of the

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 ...

. She is notable for taking part in the First voyage of Kerguelen and for her subsequent solo mission of discovery to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Anse du Gros Ventre was named in her honour.

Career

''Gros Ventre'' was built at Bayonne on plans by Léon-Michel Guignace, on plans by Jean-Joseph Ginoux, as a 16-gun armed storeship. In 1768, she was at Brest, first under count de Roquefeuil-Montpeyroux, who sailed her to Amsterdam, and later under La Brizollière In 1769, command of ''Gros Ventre'' went to Beaumont, who sailed her from Rochefort to Toulon, calling Lisbon on the way, along with her sister-ship ''Tamponne''. In 1771, she was under Faurès.. In 1772, ''Gros Ventre'' was at Isle de France (

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

). On 20 August 1771, ''Berryer'' arrived at the island, under Lieutenant

Kerguelen The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a archipelago, group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the ...

, tasked with a mission of exploration to seek new territories South of Isle de France. Kerguelen abandoned ''Berryer'' and requisitioned the 24-gun fluyt ''Fortune'' and ''Gros Ventre'' to continue his mission. ''Fortune'' and ''Gros Ventre'' started by surveying a new route to the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...

discovered in 1767 by then-Ensign

Grenier Grenier is a surname. It is a French word for ''attic, loft,'' or ''granary''. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Grenier * Angèle Grenier, Canadian maple syrup producer * Auguste Jean François Grenier (1814–1890), French docto ...

, of the corvette ''Heure du Berger''. Then, on 16 January 1772, ''Gros Ventre'' and ''Fortune'' departed for the First voyage of Kerguelen, ''Gros Ventre'' under Saint Aloüarn. ''Gros Ventre'' and ''Fortune'' sailed South, the crew suffering considerably from the cold, for which they were neither prepared nor equipped. On 13 February, they sighted land, and Ensign Boisguehenneuc managed to land, and claim the new shore for France. From 14, the ships surveyed the coast, but the poor state of the crew prevented anchoring. On 16, ''Gros Ventre'' and ''Fortune'' lost sight one from another in the fog and a heavy sea. On 18, both stopped searching for the other and, while ''Fortune'' returned to Isle de France under Kerguelen , ''Gros Ventre'' sailed under Saint Aloüarn to the 40th Southern parallel, where she arrived on 4 March, and on 17, she reached

Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders Ba ...

. For several days, ''Gros Ventre'' attempted to land a party ashore, but the cliffs and currents frustrated the attempt. The ship then sailed North, surveying the coast on the way, arriving at

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

on 28 March. On 30, ''Gros Ventre'' found a spot where she could drop anchor and send a boat ashore, under Ensign Mengaud. Saint Aloüarn lay a claim by deploying a flag and burying a message and two coins. ''Gros Ventre'' left Shark Bay on 8 April and sailed to

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

, following and surveying the Australian coast on the way. She arrived on 3 May and spent some time restoring her supplies and resting her crew. She departed again on 1 July, arriving at

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

on 17 July. From there, she sailed on 8 August and arrived back at Isle de France on 5 September 1772. After Saint Aloüarn died, on 27 October 1772, Ensign Boisguehenneuc took command. From 1774 to 1776, ''Gros Ventre'' was at Isle de France under

Charles de Mengaud de la Haye Charles de Mengaud de La Haye was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence. Biography Mengaud was born to the family of a Council of the Parliament of Toulouse. He joined the Navy as a Garde-Marine on 1 July 1756. ...

, shuttling between Isle de France and Isle Bourbon (now

La Réunion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

Fate

In 1777, ''Gros Ventre'' was hulked at Isle de France. She is last mentioned in lists in 1779.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * * * * * * * * * External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gros Ventre Fluyts of the French Navy