''Naturaliste'' () was one of the two-vessel ''Salamandre''-class of ''galiotes à bombes'' of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. Under Jacques Hamelin, and together with '' Géographe'' she took part in the

exploration of Australia The European exploration of Australia first began in February 1606, when Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed in Cape York Peninsula and on October that year when Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated, Torres Strai ...

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 175416 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. He carried a few corms of Gros Michel banana ...

Design and early career

She was constructed, and probably designed, by

Pierre-Alexandre Forfait Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait (21 April 1752 – 8 November 1807) was a French engineer, hydrographer and politician, and Minister of the Navy. Career Born to a family of rich merchants, Forfait studied at a Jesuit college in Rouen, where h ...

. Her plans are dated 14 January 1793. She was launched in 1795 as ''La Menaçante'', and completed as a gabarre. The navy transferred her towards the end of 1798 to Delamotte and Co. to serve as a privateer. In December, however, she was serving as a barracks for a detachment of naval artillerymen. A Sieur Longayron proposed, in December 1799, to charter her to carry some 200-250 colonists to Santo Domingo. Nothing came of this as Longayron was unable to provide a sufficient

surety bond In finance, a surety , surety bond, or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a person or company (a ''sure ...

.Barrey (1907), pp.51-2. ''La Menaçante'' was renamed ''Naturaliste'' in June 1800 and designated as a corvette.

Voyage of exploration

''Naturaliste'' and ''Géographe'' sailed from Le Havre on 19 October 1800 and reached

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

on 13 November. The two vessels crossed the equator on 11 December and arrived at

Isle de France (Mauritius) Isle de France (, ) was a French colony in the Indian Ocean from 1715 to 1810, comprising the island now known as Mauritius and its dependent territories. It was governed by the French East India Company and formed part of the French colonial e ...

, on 16 March 1801. For some 18 months ''Naturaliste'' and ''Géographe'' explored the less-known regions of

New Holland (Australia) ''New Holland'' () is a historical European name for mainland Australia, Janszoon voyage of 1605–1606, first encountered by Europeans in 1606, by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon aboard . The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the ...

, and

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

. On 30 May Baudin made his first major discovery. Baudin named the bay they found that day on the coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Geographe Bay Geographe Bay is in the south-west of Western Australia, around southwest of Perth. The bay was named in May 1801 by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, after his ship, ''Géographe''. It is a wide curve of coastline extending from Cape Natur ...

. Later, the cape at the south of the bay was named

Cape Naturaliste Cape Naturaliste is a headland in the south western region of Western Australia at the western edge of the Geographe Bay. It is the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, which was named after the cape. The Leeuwin-Naturaliste Nat ...

. In late 1802 the expedition was at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

, where the government sold 60 casks of flour and 25 casks of salt meat to Baudin to resupply his two vessels. The supplies permitted ''Naturaliste'' to return to France and ''Géographe'' to continue her explorations of the Australian coast. On 9 December 1802 ''Naturaliste'' left the expedition at Tasmania to bring the first collections home.Winfield and Roberts (2015), p.309. When she left Port Jackson, ''Naturaliste'' took with her the Colony's staff surgeon, Mr. James Thomson, whom Governor

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a Royal Navy officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detai ...

had given permission to return to England.''

Historical Records of Australia The ''Historical Records of Australia'' (''HRA'') were collected and published by the Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, to create a series of accurate publications on the history of Australia. The records begin shortly before 1788 ...

'' (1915), Series I, vol.3 1801/02, p.718. ''Naturaliste'' was detained at Isle de France for a few days, but then sailed for France. She was in the Channel when on 26 May 1803 HMS ''Minerve'' arrested her and brought her into Portsmouth, even though ''Naturaliste'' was flying a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...

flag and had passports attesting to her non-combatant character. The British released her and she arrived at Le Havre on 6 June 1803.

Fate

''Naturaliste'' was decommissioned on 23 June 1803. She was then reclassified as a gabarre ca. 1807, and returned to Le Havre in 1808. She was condemned in December 1810 and sold on 25 January 1811 at Le Havre.

Citations

References

* *Fornasiero, F. Jean, Peter Monteath, & John West-Sooby (2004) ''Encountering Terra Australis: The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders''. (Wakefield Press). * *Winfield, Rif & Stephen S. Roberts (2015) ''French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates''. (Seaforth Publishing). {{DEFAULTSORT:Naturaliste (1795) Ships built in France Age of Sail corvettes of France 1795 ships Maritime exploration of Australia