''Sensible'' was a 32-gun ''Magicienne''-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 ...

. 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 1798 off

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and took into service as HMS ''Sensible''. She was lost in a grounding off Ceylon in 1802.

French Navy service

From November 1789, she served at

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

under ''captaine de vaisseau'' Durand de Braye (or Durand d'Ubraye). In September 1790, she ferried

Joséphine de Beauharnais Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Cou ...

and her daughter Hortense from Martinique to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. In 1792, she took part in operations against

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. In 1793, she was equipped as a bomb ship. On 9 December 1795, ''Sensible'' was part of Gantaume's squadron. ''Sensible'', along with the corvettes ''

Sardine "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the It ...

'' and ''Rossignol'', captured the 28-gun in the neutral port of

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

. The French warships entered the harbour in disregard of its neutrality and forced ''Nemesis'' to surrender. Murray Maxwell (then a midshipman) was taken prisoner on this occasion. Under ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' (later ''capitaine de frégate'') Escoffier, in March–April 1795 ''Sensible'' crossed the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

, stopping at

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

and

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

on her way to Toulon. The next year she came under the command of ''capitaine de frégate'' Guillaume-François-Joseph Bourdé. He sailed ''Sensible'' from Toulon to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

via Corfu. She then cruised the Adriatic before returning to Corfu. ''Sensible'' was subsequently armed

en flûte ''En flûte'' (French: "as a fluyt") is a French naval expression of the Age of Sail to designate the use of a warship as a transport with reduced armament.Willaumez, p. 294 Some warships, ships of the line or frigates, were occasionally used wit ...

and used as a transport in the Mediterranean. In an action on 27 June 1798, the 38-gun HMS ''Seahorse'' captured her. ''Sensible'' lost 25 men killed and 55 wounded. ''Seahorse'' had two men killed and 16 men wounded; the British report is that ''Sensible'' lost 18 men killed and 35 wounded, including Bourdé. Captain Edward James Foote of ''Seahorse'' further reported that ''Sensible'' had recently received

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...

and fastening, and a thorough repair at Toulon two months previously. At the time of her capture ''Sensible'' was carrying General of Division Baraguey D'Hilliers, with his entourage. They were going to Toulon with a report on the capture of Malta. The British took her into service as HMS ''Sensible''. The French Navy suspended Captain Bourdé on 31 July on suspicion of not having resisted adequately, and court-martialed him on 20 May 1799 for the loss of his ship. Acquitted, he was reinstated on 21 August.

Royal Navy service

''Sensible'' was placed under Commander John Baker Hay, who received his promotion to

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain ...

in September. She was named and registered on 13 October. She arrived at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 25 November. There she was fitted as a troopship between June and August 1799. She was commissioned in July under Captain Robert Sauce. ''Sensible'' shared with and in the proceeds of the recapture, on 11 July 1800, of the ''Piersons''. On 14 May 1801, ''Sensible'' landed troops in

Abu Qir Bay The Abū Qīr Bay (sometimes transliterated Abukir Bay or Aboukir Bay) (; transliterated: Khalīj Abū Qīr) is a spacious bay on the Mediterranean Sea near Alexandria in Egypt, lying between the Rosetta mouth of the Nile and the town of Abu Qir ...

. Because ''Sensible'' served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

Loss

On 2 March 1802, as she sailed off Ceylon, she grounded, having been unable to turn quickly enough once breakers were sighted. She had to be abandoned as a wreck after 16 hours of efforts to lighten her. She had run into a shoal off

Mullaitivu Mullaitivu ( ta, முல்லைத்தீவு, translit=Mullaittīvu; si, මූලදූව, translit=Mūladūva) is the main town of Mullaitivu District, situated on the north-eastern coast of Northern Province, Sri Lanka. A largely ...

due to negligent navigation. (Earlier had warned Sauce that his reckoning was off by 40 miles.) The subsequent court martial severely reprimanded Sauce and moved his name to the bottom of the list of commanders. The court martial also dismissed the service the master, James O'Conner.

Citations

References

* * Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 209 (1790-1804

* * *
Prise de la frégate française La Sensible par la frégate anglaise HMS Seahorse, le 28 juin 1798.
''Trois Ponts'', Nicolas MIOQUE {{DEFAULTSORT:Sensible (1787) Magicienne-class frigates Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean 1787 ships Age of Sail frigates of France Frigates of the Royal Navy Ships built in France Maritime incidents in 1802 Captured ships