''Diligente'' was a 26-gun 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 ...

. Originally built for the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...

, she was purchased by the Navy and took part 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 ...

Career

''Diligente'' was built at Lorient as an East Indiaman for the

, and was completed in December 1756. She departed for her first journey on 31. On 26 March 1761, she arrived in Brest, returning from her second journey to India. The next month, the Navy purchased her and commissioned her as a frigate. In 1776, she was under Lieutenant Amblimont, part on the

escadre d'évolution An Escadre d'évolution (French, literally "Evolution squadron") is a squadron of warships of the French Navy cruising in peacetime for the purpose of training their crew and student officers. History The French Navy started organising Escadre d' ...

under Duchaffault. In September 1778, she took part in the Invasion of Dominica, along with the frigates ''Tourterelle'' and ''Amphitrite'', and the corvette French corvette Étourdie (1762). She later took part in the French invasion of Saint Martin on 29 February 1779 under Du Chilleau. In late September and October 1780 the French frigates (26 guns) and ''Diligente'', were escorting a convoy from Rochefort to Bayonne. On her way they captured three British cutters: , of 18 guns, captured 25 September 1780; , a privateer of 12 guns; and ''Jersey'', of 12 guns. The French took ''Alert'' and ''Jersey'' into service, ''Alerte'' as ''Alerte''. ''Diligente''was at the Battle of Fort Royal on 29 April and 30 April 1781, under

Mortemart Mortemart (; oc, Mòrtamar) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions of France, region in west-central France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Vienne department Ref ...

. In September, she ferried troops to support the

Siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

Fate

''Diligente'' was wrecked at Cape Henry in January 1782.

Citations

References

* * * (1671-1870) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diligente Age of Sail frigates of France Blonde-class frigates Ships built in France 1756 ships Maritime incidents in 1782