''Résolue'' was an 32-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

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 ...

. The British captured her twice, once in November 1791 during peacetime, and again in 1798. 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 ...

hulked her in 1799 and she was broken up in 1811.

French service

In 1778, ''Résolue'' was part of the squadron under Orvilliers, with Pontevs Gien as captain and Rochegude as first officer. In January 1779, ''Résolue'' was part of a squadron under Admiral Vaudreuil that captured Fort St Louis in Senegal from the British in February. The troops were under the command of the Duc de Lauzun. In September she was at Martinique undergoing repairs and refitting. In April 1781 ''Résolue'' was at

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, being coppered. At that point, Lieutenant Fleuriot de Langle was given command. On 15 July 1781, after having cruised for 50 days, the French 32-gun frigates , Lieutenant le Chevalier de Blachon, and ''Résolue'' captured , ''Swift'', the four merchant vessels ''Spy'', ''Adventure'', ''Peggy'', and ''Success'', and the 10-gun

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Queen''. The British ships were on their way to the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth ...

. ''Speedy'', Captain Spargo, and ''Swift'', both of 16 guns and 80 men, were Post Office

packet boats Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

. They were carrying despatches for Barbadoes, St Lucia, Antigua, and Jamaica. ''Speedy'', which had left Falmouth on 18 June, was the packet that the government was expecting to arrive in Britain with the news of the departure of the homeward-bound fleet from Jamaica.''Derby Mercury'' (29 August 1782). The French took ''Speedy'' and ''Swift'' into Martinique, and the rest of the prizes into Guadeloupe.''Ipswich Journal (19 October 1782, "Foreign News". At Martinique the French Navy took ''Speedy'' into service. On 6 December, however, the British recaptured ''Speedy'' off Barbados. In 1783 ''Résolue'' was again at Brest for repairs. In early 1791, she was under the command of Jacques Trublet de Villejégu. In November 1791, ''Résolue'' was escorting merchant ships, when and captured her at the

Battle of Tellicherry The Battle of Tellicherry was a naval action fought off the Indian port of Tellicherry between British and French warships on 18 November 1791 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. Britain and France were not at war at the time of the engagement, b ...

. ''Résolue'' suffered 25 men killed and 40 wounded. As this occurred during peacetime, the British restored her to France at Mahé. In 1793 she was at Brest being repaired. She took part in the

action of 23 April 1794 The action of 23 April 1794 took place between a British squadron of five frigates under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren and three frigates and a corvette under the command of Chef d'escadre F. Desgarceaux during the French Revolutionary ...

, when a squadron comprising ''Résolue'', , and the 22-gun corvette met a squadron of five British heavy frigates. ''Résolue'' managed to escape but the British took the other three ships. ''Résolue'', under Commander Montalan, next participated in the

Expédition d'Irlande The French expedition to Ireland, known in French as the ''Expédition d'Irlande'' ("Expedition to Ireland"), was an unsuccessful attempt by the French Republic to assist the outlawed Society of United Irishmen, a popular rebel Irish republica ...

. On 22 December 1796, she collided with in Bantry Bay, losing her mast in the accident. She sent a boat to seek help from , but it was washed up on the shore on Clough Beach and its crew taken prisoner. The boat is now a local attraction. ''Résolue'' managed to return to Brest under emergency rigging and in tow from ''Pégase''.

Capture

captured ''Résolue'' on 14 October 1798 at the

Battle of Tory Island The Battle of Tory Island (sometimes called the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwes ...

. ''Résolue'' was fitted with hanging ports to her main deck. To meet a coming storm, her crew had run in and double-breeched her 12-pounders, and shut and barred the ports. She was, therefore, in a comparatively defenseless state with only her quarterdeck guns able to respond to ''Melampus''s broadsides. Before she struck her colours, ''Résolue'' lost ten men killed and had some wounded, out of about 500 men on board.

British career

She was purchased for the Royal Navy as HMS ''Resolue'' but never saw active service, instead being hulked in 1799 at Plymouth. ''Resolue'' was commissioned under Lieutenant D. Wynter in November 1801. His replacement was Lieutenant T. Richards. She was in

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in 1802. She was again commissioned, in April 1803, under Lieutenant J.H. Nicols, as a slop ship. In 1807 she served as flagship for Admiral John Sutton. In 1809 she was a receiving ship. As late as 1810 she did have men aboard, including some African-Americans impressed into service, who wrote letters attempting to secure their release.W. Jeffrey Bolster. 2007. Notes and Documents: Letters by African American Sailors, 1799–1814. ''The William and Mary Quarterly'', vol. 64, no. 1.

Fate

''Resolue'' was broken up on 10 August 1811.

Notes

Citations

References

* * (biography of Trublet at pages 395 — 398) * * * * * * *

External links

*
Naval Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resolue (1778) Age of Sail frigates of France Ships built in France Iphigénie-class frigates 1778 ships Captured ships