''Régénérée'' was a 40-gun ''Cocarde''-class frigate 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 ...
. The British captured her in 1801 at the fall of Alexandria, named her HMS ''Alexandria'', sailed her back to Britain, but never commissioned her. She was broken up in 1804.
Service
In 1796, she was commanded by captain
Willaumez, in a squadron under
Sercey.
On 15 May 1796 ''
''Forte'' '',
''Vertu'',
''Seine'', and ''Régénérée'' were cruising between
St Helena
Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory.
Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
and the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
hoping to capture British
East Indiamen
East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European Trading company, trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belon ...
when they encountered the British
whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
on her way to
Walvis Bay
Walvis Bay (; ; ) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the List of cities in Namibia, second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of of land.
The bay is a ...
. The French took off her crew, except for two seamen and a boy, and put ''Forte''s fourth officer and 13-man prize crew aboard ''Lord Hawkesbury'' with orders to sail to
ÃŽle de France. On her way there one of the British seamen, who was at the helm, succeeded in running her aground on the east coast of Africa a little north of the Cape, wrecking her. There were no casualties, but the prize crew became British prisoners.
''Régénérée'' reached Île de France where she took part in the
action of 8 September 1796.
On 26 April 1797 she captured the American ship ''Betsey'' and took her into Rochefort.
Between 24 and 27 April 1798, ''Régénérée'' and ''Vertu'' engaged the 32-gun
sixth rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...
in an inconclusive action when ''Pearl'' had to pass between them before she could take refuge in St George's Bay, Sierra Leone. The action cost ''Pearl'' one man mortally wounded.
A second inconclusive action occurred on 27 July 1798 when ''Régénérée'' and ''Vertu'' engaged the 28-gun
sixth rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...
off Tenerife, The action resulted in ''Brilliant'' losing three men killed and ten wounded before she could make her escape.
In early 1800, ''Régénérée'' left Rochefort with
''Africaine'' to ferry supplies to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
. At the
action of 19 February 1801,
HMS ''Phoebe'', under Captain
Robert Barlow, captured ''Africaine'' east of
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
. However, ''Régénérée'' managed to complete her mission, sailing into Alexandria on 2 March, having eluded the British blockade. The day before she had passed through the British fleet answering signals and without arousing any suspicion, until at last she hoisted the French flag as she headed into the harbor.
She remained there during the
siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
until the
capitulation of Alexandria
The Capitulation of Alexandria in September 1801 brought the French invasion of Egypt and Syria to an end.
Background
French troops, who had been abandoned by Napoleon Bonaparte who left for France never to return, had been defeated by British ...
on 29 September 1801. The British discovered the French warships ''Cause'', ''Égyptienne'', ''Justice'' and ''Régénérée'', and two Venetian frigates in the harbour of Alexandria at the capitulation. The British and their Turkish allies agreed a division of the spoils. The British received
''Egyptienne'', ''Régénérée'' and "Venetian No. 2" - ''Léoben'' (aka ''Le Bion''; ex-Venetian ''Medusa'') - of 26 guns. Capitan Pacha (sic) received the 64-gun ''Causse'' (ex-Venetian ''Vulcano''),
''Justice'', of 46 guns, and "Venetian No. 1" - ''Mantoue'' (ex-Venetian ''Cerere'', ex-French ''Cérės'') - also of 26 guns. Additionally, the Turks received some Turkish corvettes that were in the harbour. Admiral Lord
Keith commander of the naval forces, gave the value of ''Régénérée'' for prize money purposes at
£16,771 13
s 6
d.
Fate
She was then temporarily brought into Royal Navy service as HMS ''Alexandria''. Captain
Alexander Wilson, who had brought to Alexandria and who had commanded the port, took command of ''Alexandria'' and sailed her back to Britain.
[''The Gentleman's magazine'', Vol.157, pp. 433-4.] She arrived in Portsmouth on 1 April 1802 from Malta. She sailed on 8 April for Chatham, where she was paid off; this was Wilson's last sea-going command. She was never commissioned and was broken up in 1804.
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Notes
Citations
References
*
*
*Lloyd, Christopher (ed.) (1950) ''The Keith Papers: Selected from the papers of Admiral Viscount Keith''. (Printed for the Navy Records Society).
*Williams, Greg H. (2009) ''The French assault on American shipping, 1793-1813: a history and comprehensive record of merchant marine losses''. (McFarland).
*Wilson, Robert T. (1803) ''History of the British expedition to Egypt: to which is subjoined, a sketch ...
*Wilson, John, and James Frederick Ferrier (1865) ''The Works of Professor Wilson of the University of Edinburgh: Essays critical and imaginative''.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regeneree (1794)
Cocarde-class frigates
Ships built in France
Age of Sail frigates of France
1794 ships
Captured ships