HMS ''Minerva'' was one of the four 32-gun

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

frigates 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

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 ...

. She was launched in 1759 and served through the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, but was captured in 1778 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and served as the French ''Minerve'' until being recaptured in 1781 and renamed HMS ''Recovery''. She was broken up in 1784.

Service history

British career

The frigate was built at

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...

between 1756 and 1759 and was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS ''Minerva'' during the

. Under the command of Captain Alexander Hood, she took part in the

Battle of Quiberon Bay The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' in French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast ...

on 20 November 1759. In mid-1761

prize money Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to t ...

was paid to the crews of ships taking part in the battle, and also to the crews of and ''Minerva'', for the capture of ''St. Simon''. At daybreak on 24 January 1761 ''Minerva'', still under the command of Captain Hood, encountered a large

two-decker A two-decker is a sail warship which carried her guns on two fully armed decks. Usually additional guns were carried on the upper works (forecastle and quarterdeck), but this was not a continuous battery and thus not counted as a full gun deck ...

ship about north-west of Cabo de Peñas in northern Spain. ''Minerva'' gave chase and finally caught her at 10.20 a.m. During a brisk engagement lasting no more than 40 minutes the enemy ship lost her main and fore top-mast, while soon after ''Minerva'' lost her bowsprit and fore-mast. Both ships were obliged to break off the action to clear the wreckage, but ''Minerva'' was ready to resume the fight first and closed with the enemy again at 4 p.m., forcing her to strike her colours after an hour. She proved to be the French ship ''Warwick'' (formerly , captured in 1756), a 60-gun ship, but 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 ...

with only 34 guns, under the command M. le Vegerde Belair. She had sailed from Rochfort on 20 January, bound for the Isle de France (now Mauritius) loaded with provisions, ammunition, and stores, and also transporting a detachment of 74 soldiers and six other passengers. ''Warwick'' had 14 killed and 32 wounded, while aboard ''Minerve'' 14 were killed, and 34 wounded, three of whom later died. On 15 February 1762 at the Downs, prize money was paid to the crews of ''Minerva'' and , for the capture of the French privateer ''Ecureuil'' and the recapture of the brig ''Elizabeth''. Prize money for ''Warwick'' was paid from 19 July 1762 at Portsmouth. During the

''Minerva'' was part of the West Indies Squadron under Admiral

Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the S ...

. On 14 August 1778 she captured the American 50-ton schooner ''Fanny'' off

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, sailing from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

with a cargo of timber. On 22 August 1778, ''Minerva'', under the command of Captain John Stott, and unaware that France had declared war on Britain met the French 32-gun frigate ''Concorde'', under Capitaine Le Gardeur de Tilly. Stott, mistaking her for a harmless merchantman, approached to speak to her, but ''Concorde'' fired two broadsides into her before ''Minerva'' could reply. The British were caught off guard, and suffered further misfortune when a powder explosion under the half-deck dismounted three guns, and killed or wounded eighteen men. Captain Stott was also severely wounded in the head and was carried below. After two and a half hours, ''Minerva'' surrendered, her mizzen-mast having gone overboard and her other masts tottering, her wheel destroyed, and having lost her Captain and First Lieutenant.

French career

She was commissioned into the French Navy as ''Minerve'', and commanded by Nicolas Henri de Grimouard. The

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

and recaptured her in the action of 4 January 1781.

Second British career

The Royal Navy recommissioned her under the name HMS ''Recovery'', as another had been commissioned after she was lost. She was laid up in 1783 and sold the following year.

Citations

References

* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * Rif Winfield, ''

British Warships in the Age of Sail ''British Warships in the Age of Sail'' is a series of four books by maritime historian Rif Winfield comprising a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships that served or were intended to serve in the (British) Royal Navy ...

, 1714 to 1792'', Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Minerva (1759) 1759 ships Ships built in Deptford Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy