French Frigate Égyptienne (1799)

''Égyptienne'' was a French frigate launched at Toulon in 1799. Her first service was in Napoleon's Egyptian campaign of 1801, in which the British captured her at Alexandria. She famously carried the Rosetta Stone to Woolwich, and then the Admiralty commissioned her into the Royal Navy as the 40-gun fifth-rate frigate HMS ''Egyptienne''. She served in a number of single-ship actions before being reduced to harbour service in 1807, and was sold for breaking in 1817.

Design and construction

''Égyptienne'' was part of the two-ship of frigates designed by François Caro. She had possibly been ordered on 15 June 1798 as a 74-gun ship-of-the-line of about 1,700 French tons, or 1,900 English tons (the evidence is ambiguous). She was begun at Toulon on 26 September 1798 but while building she was modified into a heavy frigate based on . She was launched 17 July 1799, put into service in November 1799 and armed at Toulon on 23 September 1800. The foremost maindeck port was found too curved in the bow to admit a gun, so ''Égyptienne'' received only 48 cannon instead of 50.

French service

In 1801 Napoleon required reinforcements in Egypt so the frigates ''Égyptienne'' and , each carrying troops and munitions, left Toulon. On 3 February the vessels anchored in the old or western port of Alexandria.

The British discovered ''Causse'', ''Égyptienne'', ''Justice'', and two ex-Venetian frigates in the harbour of Alexandria at the capitulation on 2 September 1801 after the fall of Alexandria. The British and their Turkish allies agreed to a division of the spoils; the British received ''Egyptienne'', ''Régénérée'' and ''Léoben'' (ex-Venetian ''Medusa'') (26) while the Ottomans under Küçük Hüseyin Pasha received ''Causse'' (ex-Venetian ''Vulcano'') (64), ''Justice'' (46), ''Mantoue'' (ex-Venetian ''Cerere'') (26), and several Ottoman corvettes that were in the harbour. Admiral Lord Keith commander of the naval forces, gave the value of ''Égyptienne'' for prize money purposes at £23,665 0 s 0 d.

The British took ''Égyptienne'' into service on 27 September and Captain Thomas Stephenson sailed her to Britain; on this voyage she carried Colonel Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner, who was bringing the Rosetta Stone to England. As ''Égyptienne'' was coming into the Downs she collided with the East Indiaman ''Marquise Wellsley''. She finally arrived at Woolwich on 13 February 1802.

British service

The Admiralty added her to the Royal Navy as HMS ''Egyptienne'' and she was fitted out at Woolwich between October and December 1802, at a cost of £12,625. During this period she was under the command of Captain Charles Ogle.

She commissioned under Captain Charles Fleeming (or Elphinstone or Fleming) in April 1803 and initially sailed in the English Channel and off the coast of France. Here, on 27 July, she captured the 16-gun French brig-sloop in the Atlantic Ocean. ''Epervier'' had a crew of 90 men and was carrying dispatches from Guadaloupe to Lorient. The Royal Navy took ''Épervier'' into service under her existing name.

On 30 August ''Egyptienne'' captured the privateer ''Chiffonette''. ''Chiffonette'' was armed with 16 guns and a crew of 80 men. She was 26 days out of Bordeaux and had captured a brig from Jersey that had already recaptured. ''Chiffonette'' was in the process of attacking another British brig when ''Egyptienne'' approached, an attack that ''Chiffonette'' then abandoned. Fleming remarked in his report that she was an extremely fast vessel that had several times eluded British frigates, including ''Egyptienne'' herself on one occasion.

Then she sailed to St Helena escorting a convoy of ships. During this time Charles John Napier was a midshipman aboard ''Egyptienne''. (In later years, feeling that Fleeming had treated him badly, Napier challenged Fleeming to a duel; their seconds effected a reconciliation, so eviting the duel.) On 13 February 1805 ''Egyptienne'' captured the ''Dichoso'', which was under the command of F. Caselins.

''Egyptienne'' was present at the Battle of Cape Finisterre, but did not participate in the engagement. While reconnoitering in advance of the fleet she captured a Danish merchant brig. After the battle she took the disabled Spanish 74-gun ''Firme'' in tow. After the battle, Admiral Robert Calder requested a court-martial to review his decision not to pursue the enemy fleet after the engagement. Fleming was one of the witnesses. The court martial ruled that Calder's failure to pursue was an error of judgment, not a manifestation of cowardice, and severely reprimanded him.

On 2 October ''Egyptienne'' captured the French brig-sloop ''Actéon'', under ''Capitaine de frégate'' Depoge, off Rochefort. She was armed with sixteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 126 men. ''Actéon'' had on board a colonel and some recruits, as well as arms and clothing for a regiment in the West Indies. The navy took ''Actéon'' into service as .

In November ''Egyptienne'' captured several ships: ''Paulina'', the French lugger ''Edouard'', ''Maria Antoinette'', under the command of J. Heget, and the French sloop ''Esperance''. ''Paulina'', which ''Egyptienne'' captured on 20 November, was a 12-gun Spanish letter of marque, under the command of Don Antonio Acibal. The chase took nine hours, during which ''Paulina'' threw eight of her guns overboard. She was out of Pasaia, Spain on her way to cruise the West Indies.'' The European Magazine, and London Review'', Vol. 49, p. 73.

On 24 December off Rochefort, ''Egyptienne'', under Lieutenant Handfield, his promotion still not confirmed, and Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland's HMS ''Loire'' captured the 40-gun , ''Capitaine de Frégate'' Deschorches commanding. ''Libre'' was armed with twenty-four 18-pounders, six 36-pounder carronades and ten 9-pounder guns. In the fight, which lasted half an hour, the French lost 20 men killed and wounded out of a crew of 280 men. ''Loire'' had no casualties but ''Egyptienne'' had 8 wounded, one mortally. ''Libre'' was badly damaged and had lost her masts so ''Loire'' took her in tow and reached Plymouth with her on 4 January 1806. ''Libre'' had sailed from Flushing on 14 November in company with a French 48-gun frigate but the two vessels had parted in a gale on 9 November off the coast of Scotland.

Captain Charles Paget replaced Elphinstone in December. ''Egyptienne''s boats cut out the privateer ''Alcide'' from Muros on 8 March 1806 and under incessant but ineffective fire from two shore batteries. The boats were under the command of Phillips Crosby Handfield, her first lieutenant, who stayed with ''Egyptienne'' as a volunteer as his promotion to commander had not been confirmed. ''Alcide'' was frigate-built and pierced for 34 guns. She was only two years old and when she had last gone to sea had had a complement of 240 men. The Royal Navy took ''Alcide'' into service as .

Fate

''Egyptienne'' was paid off at Plymouth and put into ordinary on 5 May 1807. Soon after she was fitted out and served as a receiving ship at Plymouth. She was in ordinary from 1812 to 1815. On 30 April 1817 she was finally sold to John Small Sedger for £2,810 for breaking up.

Citations

References

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* Duckworth, Sir John Thomas (1805) ''Minutes of a court martial, holden on board His Majesty's ship Gladiator, in Portsmouth Harbour : on Thursday, the 25th day of April 1805, and the two following days, for the trial of Sir J.T. Duckworth, K.B., Vice Admiral of the Blue, on charges exhibited against him by Captain James Anthol Wood, of the Royal Navy''. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme).
* Laughton, John Knox, William Gordon Perrin, Christopher Lloyd, N A M Rodger & Michael Duffy (1902/2008) ''The Naval miscellany''. (London: Printed for the Navy Records Society).
* Lloyd, Christopher (ed.) (1950) ''The Keith Papers: Selected from the papers of Admiral Viscount Keith''. (Printed for the Navy Records Society).
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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Egyptienne (1799)
Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy
Ships built in France
Age of Sail frigates of France
1799 ships
Captured ships
Forte-class frigates
Rosetta Stone
Military history of Alexandria
French invasion of Egypt and Syria
19th-century history of the Royal Navy
Naval history of Egypt