''Italienne'' was a 40-gun ''Consolante''-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 ...

, built by engineer Denais after plans designed by Sané and revised by François Pestel. Under Commander Jurien de La Gravière, she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, where she sustained very severe damage.

Career

Ordered on 14 February 1803 as ''Sultane'', the ship was started in March of the same year. In May, she was put on keel and renamed ''Italienne''; the name had originally been intended for , by order of 10 May 1805, but ''Topaze'' had departed Nantes under Captain François-André Baudin before it could be carried out. ''Italienne'' was commissioned in Saint-Servan on 11 September 1806. In early 1808 ''Italienne'' and were returning to France from Martinique when they encountered, captured, and destroyed three British merchantmen, , ''Sarah King'', and ''Windham''. The French put the crews on ''Sofia'', Delaney, master, of and for New York, which brought them into Plymouth on 26 March. ''Sofia'' had been coming from Belfast. In 1809, under Commodore Jurien de La Gravière, she was the flagship of a three-frigate squadron, along with ''Calypso'' and ''Cybèle''. Trying to make junction with Willaumez' fleet in Brest, the squadron was intercepted by a British blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral

Robert Stopford Robert Wright Stopford, (20 February 1901 – 13 August 1976) was a British Anglican bishop. Early life and education Stopford was born in Garston, Merseyside (then in Lancashire), and educated at Coatham School in Redcar and Liverpool Coll ...

, comprising the ships of the line , , and , the frigate , and the

brig-sloop 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 ensuing Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, ''Italienne'' sustained extensive damage and was beached, but managed to take shelter in Les Sables-d'Olonne harbour. Unable to effect heavy repairs, ''Italienne'' remained stranded in Les Sables-d'Olonne harbour in her battered state. The Ministry intended to send her to Nantes for repairs, but this was never effected. ''Italienne'' was struck from the Navy lists in November 1813. In 1816, she was sold as a merchantman.

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References

* * 1806 ships Ships built in France Consolante-class frigates Maritime incidents in 1809 Shipwrecks in the Bay of Biscay {{France-mil-ship-stub