HMS ''Madagascar'' was a 38-gun originally 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 ...

. Her French name had been ''Néréide'', and she had been built to a design by François Pestel. In 1810 as ''Néréide'', she sailed to Guadeloupe but was repelled by the blockade off

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; gcf, label=Guadeloupean Creole, Bastè, ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefecture'' (capital city) of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located ...

, and returned to Brest after a fight with and . The British captured ''Néréide'' during the

action of 20 May 1811 The Battle of Tamatave (sometimes called the Battle of Madagascar or the Action of 20 May 1811) was fought off Tamatave in Madagascar between British and French frigate squadrons during the Napoleonic Wars. The action was the final engagement o ...

, and commissioned her 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 ''Madagascar''. She took part in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

with the United States. ''Madagascar'', , and were in company on 6 March 1814 at the recapture of ''Diamond''. Shortly thereafter, Captain Bentinck Cavendish Doyle of ''Lightning'' transferred to take command of ''Madagascar''. In June 1814, ''Madagascar'' served in a flotilla under the command of Admiral Lord Cochrane, and carried General William Miller and his troops from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

to the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

to reinforce General

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

in the

.¹

Notes

Citations

References

* Crawford, Michael J. (Ed) (2002). ''The Naval War of 1812: A Documentary History, Vol. 3''. Washington: United States Department of Defense. *
address to the Royal Artillery Historical Society 2003 Autumn Meeting
by Mr Thomas Hudson, OBE, MA, 17 September 2003, at Woolwich, England.

Naval database

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madagascar (1811) Frigates of the Royal Navy 1809 ships Captured ships Ships built in France War of 1812 ships of the United Kingdom Frigates of the French Navy