''Hébé'' was a 38-gun 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 ...

, lead ship of the . The British

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 1782 and took her into service as HMS ''Hebe''. She was renamed HMS ''Blonde'' in 1805.

French Navy career

Soon after her commissioning under Captain de Vigny, ''Hébé'' was tasked to escort a convoy from Saint Malo to Brest and protect shipping from the depredations of the British Royal Navy in the context of 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 ...

. In the

action of 4 September 1782 The action of 4 September 1782 was a small naval engagement fought off the Île de Batz between a French naval frigate, , and a Royal Naval frigate, . This battle was notable as the first proper use of a carronade, and so effective was this wea ...

, she was chased by the frigate HMS ''Rainbow'', whose 32-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

chase gun A chase gun (or chaser), usually distinguished as bow chaser and stern chaser, was a cannon mounted in the bow (aiming forward) or stern (aiming backward) of a sailing ship. They were used to attempt to slow down an enemy ship either chasing ( ...

s shot away her wheel and mortally wounded her second captain, Yves-Gabriel Calloët de Lanidy. The weight of the

ball A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...

made de Vigny mistake ''Rainbow'' for a disguised ship of the line. Even though the first shots had shown that ''Rainbow''s guns had a shorter range than ''Hébés stern chasers, de Vigny never altered his course to take advantage of the longer range of his guns by firing back a full

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

. Later in the morning, the

foremast The mast of a Sailing ship, sailing vessel is a tall spar (sailing), spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessa ...

of ''Hébé'' was seriously damaged and another man killed. An hour and a half later, when ''Rainbow'' was about to come alongside, de Vigny could only fire his four of five most rear port guns and immediately

struck his colours Striking the colors—meaning lowering the flag (the "Colours, standards and guidons, colors") that signifies a ship's or garrison's allegiance—is a universally recognized indication of surrender (military), surrender, particularly for ships at ...

British Royal Navy career

The

took ''Hébé'' into service first as HMS ''Hebe''. In December 1784 ''Hebe'' captured ''Rover'', a smuggling lugger, off the Isle of Wight. ''Rover'' had a cargo of 2000 casks of spirits and a quantity of tea. She had come from Flushing and ''Hebe'' took her into Portsmouth. On 3 July 1795 ''Melampus'' and intercepted a convoy of 13 vessels off

St Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

. ''Melampus'' captured an armed brig and ''Hebe'' captured six merchant vessels: ''Maria Louisa'', ''Abeille''. ''Bon Foi'', ''Patrouille'', ''Eleonore'', and ''Pecheur''. The brig of war was armed with four 24-pounders and had a crew of 60 men. Later she was identified as the 4-gun ''Vésuve''. The convoy had been on its way from

Île-de-Bréhat Bréhat (french: Île-de-Bréhat, ) is an island and ''commune'' located near Paimpol, a mile off the northern coast of Brittany. Administratively, it is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France. Bréhat is actually an ...

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

. , and the cutter shared in the prize and head money. The Royal Navy took ''Vésuve'' into service as . Because ''Hebe'' served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants from the campaign. On 24 December 1805, the Navy renamed ''Hebe'' HMS ''Blonde''. On 15 August 1807, ''Blonde'', Captain

Volant Vashon Ballard Volant Vashon Ballard CB ( bapt. 4 January 1774 – 12 October 1832) was a Rear-Admiral of the Royal Navy. He served as a midshipman with George Vancouver on his voyage to the north-west coast of America. Early career Christened on 4 January ...

, captured ''Dame Villaret'' after a chase of 13 hours. She was armed with an 18-pounder gun and four 9-pounder carronades, and had a crew of 69 men. She had been out twenty days but had taken no prizes.

Fate

The Royal Navy paid off ''Blonde'' in July 1810. She was eventually broken up at Deptford in June 1811.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations References * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hebe (1782) Age of Sail frigates of France Hébé-class frigates 1782 ships Ships built in France Maritime incidents in 1782 Captured ships Frigates of the Royal Navy