HMS ''Ulysses'' was a 48-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 ...

frigate 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 ...

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 the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. Commissioned in 1779, her principal active service was in the Caribbean, interspersed with periods as a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

and storeship. She was decommissioned and sold at

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard also known as the Sheerness Station was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Roy ...

in 1815.Winfield 2007, pp. 176178

Career

On 2 June 1781, ''Ulysses'' encountered the 32-gun ''Fée'', under Captain de Boubée. The ships broke contact after a brief battle. On 5 June, ''Ulysses'' chased the 32-gun ''Surveillante'', under

Jean-Marie de Villeneuve Cillart Jean-Marie de Villeneuve Cillart was a French Navy officer. He served in the War of American Independence. Biography Cillart was born in an aristocratic family. His father was captain in a dragoon unit, and two of his brothers, Étienne-Fran ...

, off Saint-Domingue. Around 2130, ''Ulysses'' caught up with ''Surveillante'', and a 2-hour and a half-battle ensued, after which the frigates broke contact.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes Citations Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulysses (1779) 1779 ships Frigates of the Royal Navy