''Gracieuse'' was a 32-gun ''Charmante''-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 ...

. Renamed to ''Unité'' in 1793, she took part 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 French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. 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 ...

captured her in 1796 off

Île d'Yeu Île d'Yeu () or L'Île-d'Yeu, is an island and commune just off the Vendée coast of western France. The island's two harbors, Port-Joinville in the north and Port de la Meule to the south, in a rocky inlet of the southern granite coast, are famo ...

and brought her into British service as HMS ''Unite''. She was sold in 1802

French service

''Gracieuse'' was re-commissioned in Rochefort in April 1793 under ''captaine de vaisseau'' Chevillard. She transported troops between the

Basque Roads Basque Roads, sometimes referred to as ''Aix Roads'', is a roadstead (a sheltered bay) on the Biscay shore of the Charente-Maritime département of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north. The port of La ...

and Sables-d'Olonne, and then returned to Rochefort. She transferred to the naval division on the coasts of the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

. There she escorted convoys between

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and Bordeaux. ''Gracieuse'' took part in the

War in the Vendée The war in the Vendée (french: link=no, Guerre de Vendée) was a counter-revolution from 1793 to 1796 in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the river Loir ...

, capturing the British privateer ''Ellis'' on 11 July. In September 1793 ''Gracieuse'' was renamed ''Unité''. She was to be named ''Variante'' in April 1796, but the Royal Navy captured her before the name change took effect. On 14 May 1794, ''Unité'' captured the ship-sloop after a short fight that left ''Alert'' with three men killed and nine wounded before ''Alert'' struck. The French Navy took ''Alert'' into service as ''Alerte''. ''Unité'' then undertook a crossing from Port Louis to Rochefort under commander Durand. On 13 April 1796 , under the command of Captain Sir

Edward Pellew Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother ...

was in pursuit of a French frigate. Pellew signaled to his squadron mate to sail to cut the frigate off from the shore. ''Revolutionnaire'' then captured ''Unite'' after having fired two broadsides into her. ''Unite'' had nine men killed and 11 wounded; ''Revolutionnaire'' had no casualties. Pellew ordered the prize to be commanded to England by Edward Ellicott, first lieutenant of the ''Revolutionnaire'', who was cited by his captain Francis Cole "for his very particular attention in keeping sight of the chase, and for his steady and manly conduct when close engaged." The Royal Navy took the frigate into service as HMS ''Unite''.

British service

She was then captained by Ralph Willett Miller and Sir Charles Rowley. On 9 October 1797 ''Unite'' captured the French Navy brig ''Decouverte'', of 14 guns and 91 men. She was three days out of Nantes, on her way to Guadaloupe with secret dispatches that she managed to throw overboard before the British took possession of her. During the chase her crew threw 10 of her guns overboard in an attempt to lighten her. ''Decouverte'' arrived at Plymouth on 15 October. On 4 March 1799 ''Unite'' and the sloop left Portsmouth as escorts to a convoy for the West Indies. ''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and is ...

'' reported in January 1801 that ''Unite'' had recaptured the brig ''Hiram''. ''Hiram'', Withey, master, had been sailing from Liverpool to Savannah when a privateer had captured her. The captain and two men had recaptured her, only to have a second privateer recapture then. Then ''Unite'' had recaptured ''Hiram'' and sent her into Martinique.

Fate

''Unite'' was paid off at Sheerness in April 1802. She was sold there in May 1802.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gracieuse (1788) Frigates of the Royal Navy 1787 ships Frigates of the French Navy Charmante-class frigates Captured ships