HMS ''Fortune'' was a British 14-gun sloop launched in 1778 that the French captured in April 1780. She then served with the French navy under the same name.

British service

Commander

Charles Powell Hamilton Admiral Charles Powell Hamilton (26 December 1747 – 12 March 1825) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admi ...

commissioned ''Fortune'' in June 1778 for the Channel. Invasion of Jersey: In late April 1779 a small French squadron carrying troops sailed from

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 All ...

to land at St Ouen's Bay on Jersey. They arrived off shore on 1 May. The British moved guns and troops and guns to oppose the landing. The French armed vessels were unable to get close enough to shore to provide supporting fire so the troop transports did not attempt to land their troops. The French sailed away. The French sailed from

on 13 May and immediately encountered a British naval relief squadron, that included ''Fortune'', that belatedly come up. The British succeeded in chasing the French into Cancale Bay, where the British captured the French frigate ''Danae'', and a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

and cutter. They also set fire to three French vessels. Commander Powell was promoted to

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain ...

on 18 May 1779. Commander Matthew Squire replaced Hamilton. On 19 May, a small sloop that ''Fortune'' had captured at Cancale Bay arrived at Portsmouth. The sloop was carrying lead, tin, and linseed. On 19 October ''Fortune'' returned to Portsmouth from

Mogadore Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

. In November 1779 ''Fortune'' was under the command of Commander Lewis Robertson. He sailed for the Leeward Islands on 19 January 1780. Capture: On 26 April the two French frigates (40 guns) and (34 guns) captured ''Fortune'' off Barbuda. The frigates belonged to Guichen’s squadron. ''Fortune'' had sighted some vessels and approached cautiously. When she made signals that the unknown vessels did not return, and when Robertson could not understand their signals, he guessed that the vessels were French and he attempted to sail away. Two frigates left the French squadron o pursue ''Fortune''. ''Fortune'' initially outpaced her pursuers until the winds weakened and the pursuers were able to catch up. ''Gentille'' fired sporadically until ''Iphigénie'' also came up. At that point Robertson

struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Struck (1877–1911), German author *Hermann Struck (1876–1944), German artist *Karin Struck (1947–2006), German author *Paul Struck (1776-1820), German composer *Peter Stru ...

French service

Combat naval sur les côtes de France en 1779

The beginning of the

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Vierde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog; 1780–1784) was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence (1775-1783), broke out o ...

in 1780 effectively put the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

on the French side of the

Anglo-French War The Anglo-French Wars were a series of conflicts between England (and after 1707, Britain) and France, including: Middle Ages High Middle Ages * Anglo-French War (1109–1113) – first conflict between the Capetian Dynasty and the House of Norma ...

and the

War of American Independence 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 ...

. The Dutch expected a British invasion of their

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was inco ...

, and France assembled a 5-ship squadron under Suffren to reinforce it. The task force comprised the 74-gun ''Héros'' (under Suffren himself) and (under Trémignon), and the 64-gun ''Artésien'' (under Cardaillac), ''Sphinx'' (under du Chilleau) and ''Vengeur'' (under Forbin), as well as the 16-gun corvette ''Fortune'' (under Lieutenant Lusignan), and seven transports carrying the Régiment de Pondichéry, under Brigadier General

Thomas Conway Thomas Conway (February 27, 1735 – c. 1800) served as a major general in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became involved with the alleged Conway Cabal with Horatio Gates. He later served with Émigré for ...

. The squadron departed Brest on 22 March 1781. ''Fortune'' and ''Annibal'' were the only two ships in the squadron not to have a

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed b ...

. She took part in the

Battle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren. Both squadrons w ...

, where she captured the fireship HMS ''Infernal''; Suffren then ordered Lusignan to bring orders to the French transports, and he abandoned ''Infernal'' after taking her captain and 15 men prisoners. ''Infernal'' returned to Porto Praya harbour. On 21 August 1782, ''Ilustre'' and ''Saint-Michel'' arrived at Batacalo, making their junction with the squadron under Suffren. They were escorting 8 transports and preceded by the corvette ''Fortune'', under Lusignan. On 20 August 1782, Lusignan was at the vanguard of the French squadron when it departed Batacalo for the

Battle of Trincomalee A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. After the Battle, in early September 1782, Suffren promoted Bouvet de Maisonneuve to the command of ''Fortune''. In April 1783, after the Peace of Paris brought about a cease-fire between the French and the British, Suffren sent ''Fortune'' back to France to report on his situation. In October 1783 she became a

packet ship Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

under the name ''Courrier de Lorient'' (and later ''Courrier de Lorient No.3''), serving out of

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

on the line Lorient-New York. In January 1787 she was transferred to the Régie des Paquebots, for whom she served on the Havre-New York line. She was put up for sale at Havre in December 1788 and sold in January 1789 to Mr. Ruellan.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * (1671-1870) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune (1778) Corvettes of the French Navy