''Libre'' was a 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 ...
. She was
commissioned in 1800 and remained in active service until 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 ...
captured her in 1805.
Career
''Libre'' was built at
Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
, launched in 1796, and
commissioned there on 24 December 1800 under Commander
Bourdet.
[Quintin, p.81] She sailed from Le Havre in March 1801 in the company of towards
Cherbourg, then
Cadiz and
A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
,
before cruising to Saint-Domingue and into the North Sea.
From September to December 1803 she was stationed at the mouth of the River
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
.
On 24 December 1805,
HMS ''Egyptienne'' and
HMS ''Loire'' captured her north-west of
Rochefort
Rochefort () may refer to:
Places France
* Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department
** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard
* Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department
* Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
, near the "Phare de Baleines" (Lighthouse of the Whales) on the
Île de Ré
Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; en, Isle of Ré, ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait.
Its high ...
. ''Libre'' suffered two killed and 18 wounded, including her captain, Commander Deschorches. ''Loire'' had no casualties but ''Egyptienne'' had eight men wounded, one mortally.
By British report, ''Libre'' was armed with twenty-four 18-pounders (which had replaced her originally-planned 24-pounders), six 36-pounder
obusiers and ten 9-pounder guns.
[ ''Libre'' was badly damaged and lost her masts soon after she struck.][''Lloyd's List'', no.428]
accessed 17 February 2014. ''Loire'' then took her in tow and reached Plymouth with her on 4 January 1806. The British did not take ''Libre'' into Royal Navy service.
Notes, citations, and references
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libre (1796)
Age of Sail frigates of France
Romaine-class frigates
1796 ships
Ships built in France