''Manche'' was a 40-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 ...

, originally named ''Département de la Manche'', but the name was immediately shortened to ''Manche'' around the time of her launch in April 1806. She took part in operations in the

Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 The Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 was a series of amphibious operations and naval actions fought to determine possession of the French Indian Ocean territories of Isle de France and Île Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign la ...

under Captain François-Désiré Breton.

Action during Mauritius campaign of 1809-1811

Under Captain Jean Dornal de Guy, ''Manche'' captured the 16-gun

gun brig A gun-brig was a small brig-rigged warship that enjoyed popularity in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, during which large numbers were purchased or built. In general these were vessels of under 200 tons burthen, and thus smaller than ...

, Lieutenant

William Fitzwilliam Owen Vice Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen (17 September 1774 – 3 November 1857), was a British naval officer and explorer. He is best known for his exploration of the west and east African coasts, discovery of the Seaflower Channel off the co ...

commanding, on 28 September 1808 near

Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bencoolen Residency area from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was fi ...

.Fonds marine. On 26 April 1809, ''Manche'' departed Port-Napoléon ''Correspondance de Napoléon''
/ref> in a squadron under Captain

Hamelin Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. H ...

, along with and . The squadron managed to re-take

Foulpointe Mahavelona (commonly called Foulpointe), is a town in the district of Toamasina II, in the region of Atsinanana, on the northern part of the east coast of Madagascar. Geography It is situated at the coast of the Indian Ocean south of the mouth of ...

in Madagascar, captured three prizes at the

action of 18 November 1809 The action of 18 November 1809 was the major engagement of a six-month cruise by a French frigate squadron in the Indian Ocean, during the Napoleonic Wars. The French commander, Commodore Jacques Hamelin, was engaged in commerce raiding across ...

, and raided the British settlement at Tarapouly, in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. In 1810, she took part in the

Battle of Grand Port The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Isle de France (now Mau ...

, contributing to the capture of and the fort held by the British on Île de France.

Fate

''Manche'' was captured during the

invasion of Île de France The Invasion of Isle de France was a complicated but successful British amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial military force was landed by the Royal N ...

in 1810. She was broken up as she was unfit for

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 ...

service.

References

Bibliography

* ''La'' Manche'', frégate française : 1803-1810'', Roger Lepelley, 198

HAMELIN Emmanuel, amiral, baron (1768-1839)

''Une mission à l'Isle de France''
*Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015) ''French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 - 1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates''. (Seaforth Publishing). {{DEFAULTSORT:Manche (1806) Age of Sail frigates of France Hortense-class frigates Ships built in France Captured ships 1806 ships