''Cybèle'' was a 40-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

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 ...

Career

Sunda Strait campaign of January 1794

In May 1792, under Captain

Armand de Saint-Félix Armand de Saint-Félix (20 September 1737 – 13 August 1819) was a French Navy officer. Biography Saint-Félix joined the Navy in 1755. he served on the 16-gun ''Calypso'', where he took part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759. ...

, ''Cybèle'' departed Brest, bound for

Port Louis Port Louis (, ; or , ) is the capital and most populous city of Mauritius, mainly located in the Port Louis District, with a small western part in the Black River District. Port Louis is the country's financial and political centre. It is admi ...

, where she arrived in December 1792. She cruised off the Malabar, Mahé and Pondichéry. In 1794, ''Cybèle'' was part of a frigate division under

Jean-Marie Renaud Jean-Marie Renaud (1753 – 16 February 1805) was a French Navy officer. He is mainly known as the commander at the Battle of Île Ronde. Career With the rank of ship-of-the-line captain, Captain, Renaud commanded the India station, comprising ...

, along with ''Prudente''. She took part in the Sunda Strait campaign of January 1794. During the Sunda Strait campaign the squadron captured the

East Indiaman East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...

. She also participated in the

action of 22 October 1794 Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

off

Ile de France Ile or ILE may refer to: Ile * Ile, a Puerto Rican singer * Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places * Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria * Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language * Isoleucine, an amino aci ...

under

Pierre Julien Tréhouart Pierre Julien TréhouartSometimes written "Tréhouarts" (Arnault, p.59) (; Port Louis, 27 November 1759 - Toulon, 9 May 1804) was a French navy officer. Career Tréhouart joined the navy as a volunteer in 1775, and was promoted to officer in 177 ...

Robert Surcouf Robert Surcouf (; 12 December 1773 – 8 July 1827) was a French privateer, businessman and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean from 1789 to 1808 during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Capturing over 40 prizes, he ...

volunteered to serve as an officer for the action and earned his first command for his behaviour on that day. In 1796 she took part in patrols in the Indian Ocean in Admiral Sercey's squadron, notably taking part in the

action of 8 September 1796 The action of 9 September 1796 was an inconclusive minor naval engagement between small French Navy and British Royal Navy squadrons off northwestern Sumatra, near Banda Aceh, during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French squadron comprised si ...

. Returned to France, she was twice refitted in Rochefort, first from 29 April 1798 and later from 19 November 1802. In 1803, her armament was increased to 44 guns, with 28 18-pounders in the battery, 12 8-pounders and 4 36-pounder obusiers de vaisseau, under Captain Louis-André Senez.Quintin, p. 341

L'Hermite's expedition

In 1806 ''Cybèle'', was attached to a squadron under Commodore Jean-Marthe-Adrien L'Hermite, along with the 74-gun , the frigate and the brig-corvette . During

L'Hermite's expedition L'Hermite's expedition was a French naval operation launched in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars. The operation was intended as both a commerce raiding operation against the British trading posts of West Africa and as a diversion to the Trafalgar ...

, she took part in the capture of the brig and of about 20 merchantmen, notably the

slave ship Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting Slavery, slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea ( ...

s and ''Plowers'' (). On 18 August, a hurricane scattered the squadron between Saint Domingue and Bermuda, and ''Cybèle'' lost 38 men before taking shelter in the Chesapeake. ''Cybèle'' then returned by 1807.

Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne

On 24 February 1809, under Captain

Raymond Cocault Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

, she took part in the

Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a minor naval battle fought on 23 February 1809 off the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne on the Biscay Coast of France between a French Navy squadron of three frigates and a larger British squadron of ship of the ...

, where she had eight killed and 16 wounded. The battle left her aground and the hull so badly damaged that she was broken up.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cybele (1790) Nymphe-class frigates 1789 ships Ships built in France Maritime incidents in 1809 Shipwrecks of France