''Amazone'' was a 32-gun ''Iphigénie''-class frigate 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 was the second ship of the French Navy to receive a

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...

in 1778. She served in the

War of American Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

under Captain Lapérouse, and later in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

Career

''Amazone'' was commissioned in July 1778, in time for the

Anglo-French War The Anglo-French Wars were a series of conflicts between England (and after 1707, Britain) and France, including: Middle Ages High Middle Ages * Anglo-French War (1109–1113) – first conflict between the Capetian Dynasty and the House of Norma ...

that had broken out in June. She took part in the

under Captain Lapérouse, and constituted the vanguard of the French squadron that came to support the Continental Army, arriving at Boston on 11 June 1780. On 7 October 1779, ''Amazone'' captured the 20-gun HMS ''Ariel''. On 2 May 1780, she departed Brest with the 7-ship and 3-frigate

Expédition Particulière ''Expédition Particulière'' (English: Special Expedition) was the codename given by the Kingdom of France for the plan to sail French land forces to North America to support the colonists against Britain in the American Revolutionary War. Numberi ...

under Admiral Ternay, escorting 36 transports carrying troops to support the Continental Army in the

. The squadron comprised the 80-gun ''Duc de Bourgogne'', under Ternay d'Arsac (admiral) and Médine (

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First ...

); the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

''Neptune'', under Sochet Des Touches, and ''Conquérant'', under La Grandière; and the 64-gun ''Provence'' under Lombard, ''Ardent'' under Bernard de Marigny, ''Jason'' under La Clocheterie and ''Éveillé'' under Le Gardeur de Tilly, and the frigates ''Surveillante'' under Villeneuve Cillart, ''Amazone'' under La Pérouse, and ''Bellone''. ''Amazone'', which constituted the vanguard of the fleet, arrived at Boston on 11 June 1780. From October to November 1780, she sailed from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

to Lorient, and from there to the Caribbean. AmazonevSantaMargarita

In the action of 29 July 1782, HMS ''Santa Margarita'' briefly captured ''Amazone'', off Cape Henry, but the next day the

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

under

Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil Louis-Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (18 April 1724 – 14 December 1802) was second in command of the French squadron off America during the American Revolutionary War. Biography Early life Louis-Philippe Rigaud de Vaudreuil was ...

intervened and recaptured the frigate.

Fate

''Amazone'' was wrecked off Penmarch in January 1797. 6 of her crew died in the accident.

Notes, citations and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * * * * * (1671-1870) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amazone (1778) Iphigénie-class frigates 1777 ships Ships built in France Age of Sail frigates of France Age of Sail ships of Spain Captured ships