''Résistance'' was a 48-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 ...

. captured her in 1797 and 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 ...

took her into service as HMS ''Fisgard''. She was sold in 1814.

French career

The French Navy ordered her on 8 March 1793 as ''Fidélité'', but she was renamed ''Résistance'' while still on the stocks. In 1797 she served as a

troop ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

, ferrying the

Légion Noire La Légion noire (The Black Legion) was a military unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It took part in what was the unsuccessful last invasion of Britain in February 1797, at the time of writing. The Legion was created on the orders of Genera ...

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay ( cy, Bae Ceredigion) is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geograp ...

during the

Battle of Fishguard The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, on 22–24 February 1797, is the most recent landing on British soil by a hostile foreign force ...

. On 9 March 1797, and , captured her, along with .

British career

The

took ''Résistance'' into service as the first HMS ''Fisgard'', naming her after the town of

Fishguard Fishguard ( cy, Abergwaun, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,419 in 2011; the community of Fishguard and Goodwick had a population of 5,407. Modern Fishguard consists of two pa ...

because of her role in the battle. On 20 October 1798 she captured . On 3 April 1800, ''Fisgard'' recaptured the United States letter of marque ''Minerva'', which the French privateer ''Minerve'' had captured three days earlier. Between the 20th of July and 2 August 1800, Captain T.B. Martin and ''Fisgard'' captured four vessels: *''St. John Baptiste'', a Spanish

lugger A lugger is a sailing vessel defined by its rig, using the lug sail on all of its one or several masts. They were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France, England, Ireland and Scotland. Luggers varied extensively i ...

, that she burnt: * a French privateer of 16 guns and 141 men. ''Gironde'' had been a particularly successful and active vessel. She had on board 53 English prisoners, the masters and crews of four vessels that she had captured; *''Alerte'', a French privateer of 14 guns and 84 men. She was only six days out of Bordeaux and had been sent out to intercept the homeward bound West India convoy; and * ''Joseph'', an English South Seas

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

that had been a prize to the French privateer ''Minerve''. The three unburnt vessels arrived at Plymouth on 14 August. The four vessels ''Gironde'' had captured were: *''Swan'' sloop, Andrew Miller, master, from Oporto and carrying wine; *''Countess of Lauderdale'', Thomas Bennett, master, from Demerary, carrying sugar and cotton; *''Active'' brig, Benjamin Tucker, master, from Bermuda, carrying sugar and cotton; and * ''Young William'', Charles Bacon, master, returning from the South Sea's with a cargo of (whale) oil. On 30 September ''Fisgard'' captured the Spanish naval brig , of fourteen 18-pounder carronades and with a crew of 100 men. She was two days out of Ferrol and carrying dispatches and orders to America. She threw the dispatches, etc., overboard during the chase. On 15 May 1801 ''Fisgard'', and the hired armed cutters ''Hirondelle'' and ''Earl Spencer'', recaptured the brig ''Victory'' from the French. Then on 7 July ''Fisgard'' was at Plymouth when the gun-vessel ran aground under the

Royal Citadel, Plymouth The Royal Citadel in Plymouth, Devon, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been buil ...

. ''Fisgard'' sent her boats to assist and the crew and some of the stores were saved, but the vessel herself was a wreck. In December 1804 ''Fisgard'' was at when she captured the French letter of marque ''Tigre''. ''Tigre'' was pierced for 16 guns and had 14 mounted: twelve 18-pounder carronades and two brass 4-pounder guns; she also had six 4-pounders in her hold. She had a crew of 40 men, and was ballasted with mahogany and die wood. She was 45 days into her voyage from Cayenne to Cadiz and on her way she had captured an English brig that had been sailing from London to Saint Michaels; the brig's master and crew were aboard ''Tigre''. ''Tigre'' was the former , of Liverpool. (''Angola'' was a slave ship that had made four voyages carrying slaves from West Africa to the West Indies. The French had captured her in 1804 on her fifth voyage.) On 17 November 1805 ''Fisgard'' collided with off Madeira, severely damaging her. ''Ceres'' was declared a total loss on her arrival at

Barbadoes Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

On 18 August 1806 ''Fisgard''s boats went into

Samaná Bay Samaná Bay is a bay in the eastern Dominican Republic. The Yuna River flows into Samaná Bay, and it is located south of the town of Samaná and the Samaná Peninsula. Wildlife Among its features are protected islands that serve as nesting site ...

and there recaptured a British vessel that a French privateer of four guns and 100 men had captured on 7 August off Salt Island. The British vessel was ''Three Brothers'', White, master, which had been sailing from Bermuda to St Thomas's and Honduras.

Fate

The Principal Officers and Commissioners of the Royal Navy offered "Fisgard, of 38 guns and 1182 tons", lying at Portsmouth, for sale on 11 August 1814. The buyer had to post a bond of £3,000, with two guarantors, that the buyers would break up the vessel within a year of purchase.

Notes

Citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Resistance (1796) 1795 ships Age of Sail frigates of France Vengeance-class frigates Captured ships Ships built in France Maritime incidents in 1797 Frigates of the Royal Navy Maritime incidents in 1805