French corvette Diligente (1794)
.jpg) Incomplete plan 1811 by Edward Sison, Master Shipwright, Woolwich Dockyard, National Maritime Museum
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Diligente |
| Builder | Brest Dockyard[1] |
| Laid down | June 1793 |
| Launched | 17 January 1794[1] |
| Captured | June 1800 |
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Diligente |
| Acquired | June 1800 by capture |
| Fate | Sold August 1814 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Displacement | 461 tons (French) |
| Tons burthen | 348+14⁄94 (by calc.) (bm) |
| Length | 31.75 m (104.2 ft) (overall) |
| Beam | 8.31 m (27.3 ft) |
| Depth of hold | 4.17 m (13.7 ft) |
| Complement | French service:187 (130 at capture) |
| Armament |
|
Diligente was a French Navy Naïade-class corvette, launched in 1794 as a brig. HMS Crescent captured her in the Antilles in 1800. The British took her into service as a 14-gun transport and sold her in 1814.
French service
[edit]Diligente was a sister ship to Naïade. They were built to a plan by Pierre-Agustin Lamothe. The Royal Navy captured Naïade in 1806 and took her into service as HMS Melville; she was sold for breaking up in 1811.
Between 30 Mar 1794 and 29 May, Diligente was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Lacouture. Then from 9 June to 15 December Diligente was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Noguez. Under these lieutenants' command, Diligente conducted a cruise into the Bay of Biscay, returning to Lorient, visited Brest, cruised into the Atlantic, escorted a convoy to the Île-d'Aix roads, cruised the region around the Azores and returned to Brest, and escorted a convoy from Camaret to Saint-Malo.[2]
Between 18 March 1795 and 25 July Diligente was in Saint-Malo roads, cruised in the bay of Saint-Brieuc and bay of Granville, and returned to Saint Malo.[2]
Around 17 July 1797, Diligente escorted a convoy from Mindin (opposite Saint-Nazaire) to Larmor, while still under Noguez's command, who had by then been promoted to capitaine de frégate.[2]
Quasi War:On 6 September, 1799, under command of "Citizen" Du Bois, she captured American merchantman "America" at (28°00′N 35°00′W / 28.000°N 35.000°W) in the Atlantic Ocean.[3] War of Knives and Quasi War:Shortly after 3 December, 1799 she encountered USS Boston , but no action took place as she was convoying troops of General Toussaint for the Haitian Revolution, seemingly carrying a US pass.[4] Anchored at Cape Nicola, St Domingo on 7 December, 1799.[5]
Capture
[edit]In July 1800 the frigate HMS Crescent captured Diligente, which was armed with twelve 12-pounder guns and had a crew of 130 men.[6] The Royal Navy took her into service as a 14-gun transport under her existing name.
Royal Navy service
[edit]There is little information readily available on line about the storeship Diligente's career as she was never registered. The National Maritime Museum (NMM) has a drawing of her lines, made in 1811. The NMM describes her as serving as a storeship at Woolwich.[a]
In 1807 Rcd. Turner was master.[7]
In 1809 Thomas Miller was appointed to the Diligente storeship.[8]
In 1810 Mr. T. Hoskins was appointed to command the Diligente store-ship.[9]
In 1812-1813 Edward Ives was master.[7]
Lastly, Donald McDonald was master in 1814.[7]
Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 168.
- ^ a b c Fonds Marine, 1790-1804.
- ^ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume Part 1 of 3 Naval Operations August 1799 to December 1799 August to September Pg. 165" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume Part 3 of 3 Naval Operations August 1799 to December 1799, December Pg. 467" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume Part 3 of 3 Naval Operations August 1799 to December 1799, December Pg. 502" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
- ^ "No. 15295". The London Gazette. 20 September 1800. p. 1082.
- ^ a b c d "NMM, vessel ID 383516" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol v. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 21, p.519.
- ^ Naval Chronicle, Vol. 23, p.438.
References
[edit]- Archives de France (2000). Fonds marine campagnes : opérations, divisions et stations navales, missions diverses : inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB⁴. Centre historique des Archives nationales. ISBN 978-2860002653.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French warships in the age of sail, 1786-1861. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2. OCLC 939862029.
This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.