''Créole'' was a 40-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

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 ...

, a one-off design by Jacques-Augustin Lamothe. The French Navy loaned her to a privateer in 1797. Later, she served in the Brest squadron, took part in

Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801 Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801 were three connected major French Navy operations of the spring of 1801 during the French Revolutionary Wars. A French naval squadron from Brest under ''Contre-amiral'' Honoré Ganteaume, seeking to reinforce the ...

to Egypt, and was involved in the French acquisition of Santo Domingo (also known as the ''

Era de Francia In the history of the Dominican Republic, the period of ''Era de Francia'' ( "Era of France", "French Era" or "French Period") occurred in 1795 when France acquired the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, annexed it into Saint-Domingue and briefl ...

'') and briefly detained

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...

before he was brought to France. 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 ...

ships and captured her Santo Domingo on 30 June 1803. The

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 ...

took her into service but she foundered soon afterwards during an attempt to sail to Britain; her crew were rescued.

Career

Early career

After her launch, ''Créole'' was fitted for four months before being lent 19 October 1797 to a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

from Nantes. She was commissioned in the Navy on 29 April 1798 and started patrolling off Brest in February 1799. On 12 April, ''

capitaine de vaisseau Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide includ ...

'' Pierre-Paulin Gourrège took command. On 26 April 1799, ''Créole'' departed Brest with the oceanic fleet and took part in Bruix' expedition of 1799 into the Mediterranean. She was detached to

Oneglia Oneglia ( lij, Inêia or ) is a former town in northern Italy on the Ligurian coast, in 1923 joined to Porto Maurizio to form the Comune of Imperia. The name is still used for the suburb.Roy Palmer Domenico, ''The regions of Italy: a reference gu ...

, along with '' Romaine'' and ''Vautour'', to support the French invasion of Italy. The British hired armed cutter ''Sandwich'' was under the command of Lieutenant George Lempriere and cruising off the coast of Barcelona on 14 June 1799 when she sighted a large fleet. Lempriere believed the vessels to be a British fleet and sailed towards them. When the strange vessels did not reply to the recognition signals, Lempriere realized that they were enemy vessels and attempted to sail away. The French fleet detached a

lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or several masts. They were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively i ...

, possibly ''Affronteur'', to pursue ''Sandwich''. A frigate joined the lugger in pursuit and towards evening the lugger opened fire with her bow chasers. The frigate then too opened fire, with ''Sandwich'' returning fire as best she could. By 1a.m. the frigate was within musket shot of ''Sandwich'' and any further resistance would have been futile. Lempriere then struck to ''Créole''. In 1800, ''Créole'' was part of a division under '' contre-amiral''

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

, tasked to cruise off

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

and cut off the royalists from their British support. In order to avoid the British blockade, the squadron anchored to Camaret, but attracted the attention of the British and sailed back to harbour to avoid engagement. The division was retasked to ferry 4600 troops to Santo Domingo, but again ran into the British blockade, turned back and adjourned its mission. During the cruise, ''Créole'' sustained some damage in a collision with ''Fidèle''.

Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801

On 27 January 1801, ''Créole'' departed Brest with a division under ''contre-amiral''

Ganteaume Ganteaume is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Andy Ganteaume (1921–2016), Trinidadian cricketer *Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume (1755–1818), French Navy officer **Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801 Ganteaume's expedition ...

, tasked to ferry ammunitions and reinforcements to the '' Armée d'Égypte'', taking part in

. After several false starts due to unfavourable weather or to the British blockade, Ganteaume eventually set sail on 23 February on a heavy sea which soon dispersed his squadron. The next day, ''Créole'' rejoined '' Indivisible'', and the two ships sailed together until they finally made contact with their division. Ganteaume reached Toulon on 18 February; Gourrège left ''Créole'' to take command of the flagship '' Indivisible'' on 9 March.Quintin, ''Dictionnaire des capitaines'', p. 157 The squadron set sail on 25 April. His crew much weakened by an epidemic, Ganteaume managed to establish a blockade of Elba on 1 May and bombard

Portoferraio Portoferraio () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Livorno, on the edge of the eponymous harbour of the island of Elba. It is the island's largest city. Because of its terrain, many of its buildings are situated on the slopes of a tiny h ...

on 6 May, supporting the

Siege of Porto Ferrajo The siege of Porto Ferrajo was a French attempt to force the surrender of the Tuscan fortress town of Porto Ferrajo (now Portoferraio) on the island of Elba following the French occupation of mainland Tuscany in 1801 during the French Revolutio ...

, but he had to detach '' Formidable'', '' Indomptable'', '' Dessaix'' and ''Créole'' to ferry the sick to

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

and return to Toulon. ''Créole'' took an incidental part in the

action of 24 June 1801 The action of 24 June 1801 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars. A British ship of the line, HMS ''Swiftsure'' under Captain Benjamin Hallowell was passing westwards through the Southern Mediterranean near Cape De ...

, where the lone British 74-gun HMS ''Swiftsure'' met the French squadron and was captured after a running battle.Clowes, p. 453

Santo Domingo

On 9 January 1802, ''Créole'' departed Toulon with a division under ''contre-amiral''

, ferrying troops to

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

to consolidate the French occupation of Santo Domingo. After

surrendered, he was embarked on ''Créole'' before being transferred on '' Héros'' and ferried to France, where he died in prison. Boarding the frigate,Le rêve américain et caraïbe de Bonaparte : Le destin de la Louisiane française. L'expédition de Saint-Domingue
Napoleon.org Louverture stated: In 1803, ''Créole'' ferried troops to

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

under Commander Jean-Marie-Pierre Lebastard, travelling to

Jean-Rabel Jean-Rabel ( ht, Jan Rabèl) is a commune located west of the city of Port-de-Paix and east of the city of the Môle-Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement, in the Nord-Ouest department of Haiti. As of 2015, the estimated adult population was 148,416. The ...

from Cap-Français with 530 soldiers under General Morgan.James, p. 188 Her crew suffered from the

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

that was endemic to the campaign, so that only 150 men were fit and the frigate was 177 short of her usual complement.Troude, ''Batailles navales'', p. 288 In the morning of 30 June, ''Créole'' met five British ships of the line, who closed in to investigate and gave chase. ''Créole'' was unable to escape the ships of the line as ''Vanguard'' and ''Cumberland'' came up and flanked her. ''Vanguard'' opened fire, and after a single token gunshot, ''Créole'' struck to her overwhelmingly better-armed opponents.

Fate

A prize crew conveyed ''Créole'' to

Port Royal Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and co ...

in Jamaica for repair. There the Royal Navy commissioned her as HMS ''Creole'' under Captain

Austin Bissell Austin Bissell (died 1807) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was captain of the captured French frigate ''Créole'' when she sank on a journey from Jamaica to England.Clowes, p. 318 Naval career HMS ''Racoon'' On 18 October 1802, Commander ...

. In late 1803 ''Créole'' sailed for Britain with a prize crew and numerous French prisoners. ''Créole'' was in a poor state, and on 26 December she sprang a leak. The crew and prisoners manned her pumps but were unable to prevent the accumulation of water such that by 30 December the water was rising by two feet per hour. Two leaks became evident, one forward and one aft of the hold. The crew threw her guns, shot, iron ballast and some stores overboard, and slung a sail under the hull. Still, by 2 January the pumps were again unable to prevent the accumulation of water. The crew and the prisoners were exhausted and so Bissell decided to abandon ship. ''Cumberland'' came up to take everyone off ''Créole''. The last men left on 3 January, at which time she sank beneath the waves at .

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

Citations

References

* * * Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Creole (1797) Frigates of the Royal Navy Age of Sail frigates of France 1797 ships Frigates of the French Navy Captured ships Maritime incidents in 1804 Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Privateer ships of France