Several French vessels named ''Adèle'' operated in the Indian Ocean theatre in the late 18th and early 19th century. At least two were

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, 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 l ...

s that the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

captured, one in November 1800 and the other in December 1807. This article concerns the second ''Adèle.''

Origins

''Adèle'' was built in

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and registered and owned by the firm of Merle, Cabot & Co. Edward Duyker (1987) ''Coutance and the Voyage of the Adele''. Explorations, no 4, March 1987, pp 21–25.

''Adèle''

In 1803, ''Adèle'' sailed from the Isle de France (now

), to Port Jackson, New Holland, under the command of Louis Ruault Coutance, a former naval officer (

Lieutenant de vaisseau Ship-of-the-line lieutenant (; ) is a naval officer rank, used in a number of countries. The name derives from the name of the largest class of warship, the ship of the line, as opposed to smaller types of warship ( corvettes and frigates). It ...

). Her cargo consisted of 4,000 gallons of rum, 430 gallons of Cape wine, 6,000 lbs of sugar, 40 casks of meat, 11 anchors, a case of jewellery and a considerable quantity of cloth. She arrived at Port Jackson on 16 July 1803, and left on 4 September to return to Martinique. On 24 June 1807, the "corsair, owner Bonaffé," advertised that she was about to leave on a cruise in July and needed 15 Mozambiquers for her crew. ''Adèle'' captured ''Cartier'' in October. ''Cartier'' later became ''Caravan'', which recaptured in May 1809. On 5 December, captured ''Adèle''. Captain Caulfield, of ''Russell'', reported that he had captured ''Adèle'' in the Indian Ocean, about 135 km off the coast of

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(). ''Adèle'' had sailed from Isle de France on 14 July, and carried "seven months' water and provisions for one hundred and fifty men".

Fate

In 1819, the vessel ''L'Adele'', belonging to Calcutta and of 275 tons (bm), was lost on the west coast of Sumatra.Phipps (1840), p.143.

Citations

References

*Phipps, John, (of the Master Attendant's Office, Calcutta), (1840) ''A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ...''. (Scott). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adele Privateer ships of France Captured ships 1800s ships