Jean Bart was a merchant vessel built at Bayonne in 1786. Her owners commissioned her at Nantes in 1793 as a privateer. The French Navy requisitioned her in January 1794 and classed her as a corvette and listed her as Jean Bart No. 2 to distinguish her from the French corvette Jean Bart (1793). The Navy intended to rename her Imposant in May 1795, but the Royal Navy captured her first.[1]
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} France | |
| Name | Jean Bart |
| Namesake | Jean Bart |
| Builder | Bayonne |
| Launched | 1786 |
| Acquired | Requisitioned in January 1794 in Nantes |
| Commissioned | 1793 as a privateer |
| Captured | By Britain on 15 April 1795 |
 Great Britain | |
| Name | HMS Laurel |
| Acquired | 1795 by purchase of a prize |
| Fate | Sold at Jamaica in 1797 |
| General characteristics [1][2] | |
| Class and type | Corvette |
| Displacement | 550 tons (French) |
| Tons burthen | 42318⁄94 (bm) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m) |
| Depth of hold | 8 ft 7 in (2.62 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
On 15 April 1795, a naval squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren gave chase to Jean Bart, described in the report of the capture as being a ship-corvette of 26 guns and 187 men. The actual captor, off the Île de Ré, was HMS Artois.[3]
The Royal Navy took Jean Bart into service as the post ship HMS Laurel. Between July and 8 December 1795 the Royal Navy had Laurel fitted a Portsmouth. She had been flush-decked, but received a small forecastle, quarterdeck, and extra platforms. She was commissioned under Captain Robert Rolles. He had been promoted to post captain on 12 August 1785; he had been captain of the hired armed ship Lord Mulgrave.[4]
Rolles sailed Laurel for the coast of Africa and then the Leeward Islands.[5] In May 1796 Laurel participated in the capture of Saint Lucia under Rear Admiral Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian and General Ralph Abercrombie,[4] and shared in the prize money for the capture.[6]
Laurel was sold in 1797 at Jamaica.[2]
Citations edit
- ^ a b Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 177.
- ^ a b Winfield (2008), p. 231.
- ^ "No. 13773". The London Gazette. 25 April 1795. p. 379.
- ^ a b Marshall (1823), pp. 676–77.
- ^ Schomberg (1802), p.
- ^ "No. 15265". The London Gazette. 7 June 1800. p. 623.
References edit
- Marshall, John (1823). . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. 1, part 2. London: Longman and company.
- Schomberg, Isaac (1802) Naval Chronology, Or an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime Events from the Time of the Romans, to the Treaty of Peace 1802: With an Appendix, Volume 4. (London: T. Egerton).
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
- Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.