HMS ''Abeille'' was a

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 ...

14-gun cutter launched in 1793 under the name ''Bonnet Rouge'' that captured in 1796. She was taken into 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 ...

as HMS ''Abeille'', but apparently never served and was broken up in 1798.

French service and capture

''Abeille'' was a ''Montagne''-class cutter built to a design by Daniel Denÿs and launched in October 1793 at

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

as ''Bonnet Rouge''. Between March and July 1795, while under the command of ''ensigne de vaiseau'' Denis, she cruised between

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

and Loctudy, and return. She then cruised in the Gulf of Gascony with the division under the command of Contre-Admiral

Vence Vence (; oc, Vença) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop of Vence is Severu ...

. She was at the First Battle of Groix in June 1795, but like all the smaller vessels, did not participate in the action.''Fonds Marine'', p.146. She was officially renamed ''Abeille'' on 30 May 1795. Later, under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Denis-Lagarde, she was stationed at the

Île de Batz The Île de Batz ( br, Enez Vaz) is an island off Roscoff in Brittany, France. Administratively, it is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Climate Île de Batz has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate class ...

. On 2 May 1796, ''Dryad'', under Acting-Commander John Pullin, captured ''Abeille'' some 16 or 17 leagues off The Lizard. At the time, ''Abeille'' was three days out of

and had not taken anything. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name.

Fate

There is no record that HMS ''Abeille'' ever actually served in the Royal Navy. She was broken up in 1798.Winfield (2008), p.356.

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abeille (1796) Cutters of the Royal Navy Captured ships 1793 ships Cutters of the French Navy