''Étoile'' ("''Star''") was a
fluyt 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 ...
. She was originally a merchantman named ''Placelière'' and was purchased by the Navy while still on the stocks. She was renamed ''Étoile'' in April 1763 and re-classed as a
corvette. She is famous for being one of
Louis Antoine de Bougainville's ships in his
circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first circumnaviga ...
between 1766 and 1769, along with
''Boudeuse''.
Career
''Étoile'' was originally built between 1759 and 1762 as a
fluyt named ''Placelière'' and was purchased while still on the stocks for
King Louis XIV's Navy on 4 August 1762. She was pierced for 20 guns.
''Étoile'' sailed to Rochefort on 22 December 1763.
On 15 November 1766, ''Étoile'' departed Saint-Malo, along with
''Boudeuse'', for an exploration voyage under
Bougainville. She was under
Chenard de la Giraudais, and was the storeship of the expedition. She carried naturalist and physician
Philibert Commerçon
Philibert Commerson (; 18 November 1727 – 14 March 1773), sometimes spelled Commerçon by contemporaries, was a French natural history, naturalist, best known for accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of circumnavigation in 1 ...
, astronomer
Pierre-Antoine Veron, and
Jeanne Baré, who was recognised as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation. During much of the voyage, Baré was disguised as a man.
In January 1771, ''Étoile'' was at
Ile d'Aix under Cramahé. In April, she was at Brest.
On 1 January 1773,
Denis de Keredern de Trobriand was given command of ''Étoile'' in Lorient. Between 1773 and 1777, she sailed to China and in the Indian Ocean. In 1775, she was in
Borneo
Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
, where Trobriand was offered two islands for France, the largest one being
Lemukutan. ''Étoile'' surveilled the South-Western coast of Borneo. During the voyage, ''Étoile'' received orders to mount a punitive expedition against Pangaram Serip, King of Koti, at the mouth of the
Mahakam River, in retaliation for the massacre of the crew of the merchantman
''Épreuve''. ''Étoile'' attacked the port held by Pangaram Serip, along with the frigate
''Indiscrète'', under Boucault, and ''Badine'', under Le Veyer de Beuzidou, destroying or capturing 31 ships, and killing around 300 people.
Fate
In May 1779, she became a prison hulk in Lorient. She is last mentioned in 1789.
Citations
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Etoile (1767)
Exploration ships
Ships built in France
1762 ships