''Galathée'' (or ''Galatée'') was a 32-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 ...
In February 1780, ''Galathée'' escorted convoys in the
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
, along with ''Hermione''.
''Galathée'' took part in the
Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War saw a series of battles involving naval forces of the British Royal Navy and the Continental Navy from 1775, and of the French Navy from 1778 onwards. Although the British enjoyed more numerical victories, thes ...
, taking part in the capture of
Sint Eustatius
Sint Eustatius (, ), also known locally as Statia (), is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality (officially " public body") of the Netherlands.
The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, so ...
and to the
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...
.
In the summer of 1791, under ''Major de vaisseau'' Joseph de Cambis, she ferried French national commissioners to
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
.Fonds Marine, vol.1, p.29 In March 1792, in support of one of these commissioners, Edmond de Saint-Léger, ''Galathée'' shelled the forces of
Romaine-la-Prophétesse
Romaine-la-Prophétesse (, Romaine the Prophetess), born Romaine Rivière around 1750 in Santo Domingo, was a free black coffee plantation owner and leader of an uprising early in the Haitian Revolution.
In 1791, in response to rising racial ten ...
which were attacking
Léogâne
Léogâne ( ht, Leyogàn) is one of the List of communes of Haiti, coastal communes in Haiti. It is located in the eponymous Léogâne Arrondissement, which is part of the Ouest (department), Ouest Department. The port town is located about we ...
.
During the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, she took part in the Combat du 13 prairial, where she took ''Terrible'' in tow, under fire, preventing her capture by the British.
On 14 July 1794 she and ''
sloop-of-war
In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...
in the Atlantic.Grocott (1997), p.8.
In the night of 23 to 24 April 1795, ''Galathée'' ran aground off