HMS Victoire (or HMS Victor) was the French privateer schooner Victoire that the Royal Navy captured in 1797 and took into service as a fireship. The Navy sold her at the end of 1801.

History
France
NameVictoire
Launched1793, Ostend, Antwerp, or some other port in the region[1]
Captured28 December 1797
Great Britain
NameHMS Victoire
AcquiredDecember 1797 by capture
FateSold 16 December 1801
General characteristics [2]
Tons burthen70, or 726094, or 73 (bm)
Length
  • Overall:62 ft 10 in (19.2 m)
  • Keel:50 ft 8 in (15.4 m)
Beam16 ft 5 in (5.0 m)
Depth of hold7 ft 6 in (2.3 m)
Complement
  • Privateer:74
  • Royal Navy:20
Armament
  • Privateer:14 guns
  • Royal Navy:
    • Originally:14 guns[3][4]
    • Later:2 × 4-pounder guns

French service and capture edit

Victoire was launched in 1793.

On 28 December 1797 Termagant was four leagues off Spurn Head when she sighted and gave chase to a French privateer. After four hours Termagant succeeded in capturing the schooner Victoire, of 14 guns and 74 men. She had been out ten days during which time she had captured two colliers; she had been in pursuit of a British merchantman when Termagant first sighted her.[5] The Royal Navy took Victoire into service as HMS Victoire.

Royal Navy edit

Between March and June 1798 Victoire was at Sheerness, undergoing fitting as a temporary fireship.

In 1801 Lieutenant James Tillard commissioned Victoire for the North Sea.[2]

Fate edit

The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered Victoire, of 73 tons, lying at Woolwich, for sale on 16 December 1801.[6] She sold there on that day for £240.[2]

Lieutenant Tillard took command of Monkey.

Citations edit

  1. ^ Demerliac (1999), p. 210, n°1625.
  2. ^ a b c Winfield (2008), p. 380.
  3. ^ Naval Chronicle, (July–December 1800), Volume 4, p.547.
  4. ^ Naval Chronicle, (January–June 1801), Volume 5, p.551.
  5. ^ "No. 14078". The London Gazette. 30 December 1797. p. 2.
  6. ^ "No. 15434". The London Gazette. 8 December 1801. p. 1463.

References edit

  • Demerliac, Alain (1999). La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 à 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782906381247. OCLC 492783890.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.