HMS Gaiete (1797)

HMS ''Gaiete'' (also ''Gayette'') was a French ''Bonne Citoyenne''-class corvette that the British frigate captured off Bermuda in 1797. She then served the Royal Navy until she was sold in 1808.

Capture

''Gaité'' initially sailed from Bayonne to Rochefort. She then received the mission to carry passengers and supplies to Cayenne. Her mission completed, she proceeded to patrol the Antilles.

At daybreak on 10 August 1797 44-gun ''Arethusa'', under the command of Captain Thomas Wolley, was in the Atlantic Ocean at when she sighted three ships to windward. At 7:30 a.m. one of the ships bore down to within half-gunshot, and opened fire. She proved to be the 20-gun ''Gaieté'', under the command of ''Enseigne de vaisseau'' Jean-François Guignier. She had been out of Cayenne about four weeks when she encountered ''Arethusa''.

With ''Gaieté'' having taken on a ship twice her size, there could only be one outcome. The British captured ''Gaieté'' within half an hour. She had sustained considerable damage to her sails and rigging, and lost two seamen killed and eight wounded, including Ensign Dubourdieu. ''Arethusa'' lost one seaman killed, and the captain's clerk and two seamen wounded.

The French brig observed the engagement and then sailed away. The Royal Navy captured ''Espoir'' in September, in the Mediterranean.

Royal Navy service

''Gaiete'' was commissioned into the Royal Navy in June 1798 under Commander Edward Durnford King for service in the North Sea. In 1799 she was serving in the Channel.

On 4 March 1799 she sailed for Jamaica. She and the frigate ''Unite'' left Portsmouth as escorts to a convoy for the West Indies. Next, ''Gaiete'' captured the brig ''Rose'' on 7 April.

Then on 11 January 1800 ''Gaiete'' captured the sloop ''Santa Christa''.

Between February and May 1800, ''Gaiete'' captured or detained several vessels:
*schooner ''Speculator'', 60 tons (bm), sailing from Guadeloupe to Copenhagen with a cargo of sugar and coffee (10 February);
*ship ''Albion'', of six guns and 500 tons (bm), sailing from Sunderland to Jamaica with a cargo of coals (retaken 16 February);
*schooner ''Seaflower'', of five men, sailing from Guadaloupe to Saint Thomas in ballast (18 February);
*ship ''Daedalus'', of six guns, 17 men, and 300 tons (bm), sailing from Deptford to Martinique with provisions for the government (retaken 28 February);
*brig ''Good Fortune'', of six men and 70 tons (bm), sailing from Liverpool, North America, to Antigua with a cargo of fish (retaken 5 March);
*French schooner ''Success'', of two guns, 60 men, and 60 tons (bm), sailing from Saint Bartholomew to Guadeloupe (6 March);
*brig ''Renwick'', 150 tons (bm), sailing from Norfolk, North America, to Antigua with a cargo of wheat and flour (captured 4 March and retaken 16 March);
*schooner ''Betsey'', of nine men and 69 tons (bm), sailing from Leghorn to Charlestown with a cargo of wine, oil, etc., (retaken 2 May);
*schooner ''Elianne and Delphine'' (French tender), of ten men, sailing from Guadeloupe to Saint Bartholomew with a cargo of wine and sugar (6 May).

On 22 August, ''Gaiete'' captured the ''Petite Fortuné'' (alias ''Fortuna'').

In late 1800, after Durnford King was promoted to Acting-Captain of Commander Richard Peacocke became captain. Peacocke received a promotion to post captain on 4 June 1801.

In April 1802, ''Gaite'' was at Dominica with the 74-gun ships and , and the frigate to assist in suppressing a mutiny that had broken out on 9 April in the 8th West India Regiment. The soldiers had killed three officers, imprisoned the others, and taken over Fort Shirley. On the following day, ''HMS Magnificent'', which was anchored in Prince Rupert's Bay under Captain John Giffard's command, sent a party of marines ashore to restore order. The mutineers fired upon ''Magnificent'' with no effect. On 12 April, Governor Cochrane entered Fort Shirley with the Royal Scots Regiment and the 68th Regiment of Foot. The rebels were drawn up on the Upper Battery of Fort Shirley with three of their officers as prisoners and presented arms to the other troops. They obeyed Cochrane's command to ground their arms but refused his order to step forward. The mutineers picked up their arms and fired a volley. Shots were returned, followed by a bayonet charge that broke their ranks and a close-range fire fight ensued. Those mutineers who tried to escape over the precipice to the sea were exposed to grape-shot and canister fire from ''Magnificent''.

Fate

By 1807 ''Gaiete'' was in ordinary at Blackwall. The ship was offered for sale at Woolwich Dockyard on 8 July 1808, and sold on 21 July.

Citations

References

Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier: BB4 1 à 209 (1790-1804)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaiete (1797)
Bonne Citoyenne-class corvettes
Ships built in France
Sloops of the Royal Navy
1796 ships