The ''Junon'' was a 32-gun
''Charmante'' 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 ...
Career
''Junon'' took part in the
Battle of Ushant under
Admiral d'Orvilliers. She captured
HMS ''Fox'' on 11 September 1778.
On
17 August 1779, under captain
Charles de Bernard de Marigny
Charles-René-Louis, vicomte de Bernard de Marigny (1 February 1740, in Sées – 25 July 1816, in Brest) was a French vice admiral, grand-cross of the ordre de Saint-Louis and commander of the Brest fleet.
Biography
Born the fourth boy of an ...
and along with
''Gentille'', she captured
HMS ''Ardent''. On 13 September, under lieutenant Kergariou Locmaria, she captured .
In October 1780, ''Junon'' sailed from
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 ...
to
St. Vincent towing a
schooner to deliver hospital supplies to the island, which had recently come under French control. ''Junon'' anchored beneath the cliffs in
Kingstown
Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centr ...
Harbour and, due to a broken barometer, had no warning when the island was struck by a hurricane. The massive storm, known as the
Great Hurricane of 1780
The Great Hurricane of 1780 was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. An estimated 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through the islands from October 10 to October 16. Specifics on the hurricane's tra ...
, battered the frigate against the cliffs and caused her to sink on 11 October 1780, although her captain managed to lead the entire crew off the ship and up the cliffs in safety.
Archaeological investigations
From December 1997 to January 1998 the ''Junon'' shipwreck was investigated by an archaeological team sponsored by the Institute of Maritime History and
Florida State University and directed by David Johnson and
Chuck Meide. The site was initially thought to be that of the British slave ship '' Africa '', but after raising a cannon and finding it to be a French naval gun dated 1776, it was realized the ship was likely a late 18th-century French frigate. Confirmation that the wreck was that of the '' Junon '' came over twenty years later after the discovery of archival documents in France by archaeologist Jean-Sébastien Guibert of the
University of the French Antilles
The University of the Antilles (), also known in English as the University of the French Antilles, is a French public university, located in the French West Indies.
History
It was previously part of a larger institution in combination with camp ...
. Guibert led a second archaeological expedition to the wreck of ''Junon'' in October 2021. The 2021 expedition consisted of a French team along with American archaeologist
Chuck Meide from the original 1997-1998 investigation. Guibert plans to return to the site of the '' Junon '' to conduct additional excavation in 2023.
[ ]
References
External links
*
Les bâtiments ayant porté le nom de Junon Netmarine.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junon (1778)
Age of Sail frigates of France
Ships built in France
1778 ships
Charmante-class frigates
Maritime incidents in 1780
Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea