French corvette Poulette (1781)

Poulette was a French Coquette-class corvette built to a design by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb and launched in March 1781. She served the French navy until 1793 when the British captured her at Toulon in 1793. She served briefly in the Royal Navy, including at the battle of Genoa in 1795, until she was burned in October 1796 to prevent her falling into French hands.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Poulette.
History
France
Name: Poulette
Namesake: Hen
Builder: Toulon[1]
Laid down: September 1780[1]
Launched: 22 March 1781[1][2]
In service: 30 June 1781[1]
Captured: January 1793
UK
Name: HMS Poulette
Acquired: January 1793 by capture
Honours and
awards:		 Naval General Service Medal with clasp "14 March 1795"[3]
Fate: Burned as unserviceable 20 October 1796
General characteristics [4]
Class and type: Coquette-class corvette
Type: 28-gun sixth rate (British service)
Displacement: 850 tons
Tons burthen: c.580 (bm)
Length: c.120 ft 0 in (36.6 m) (overall); 106 ft 6 in (32.5 m) (keel)
Beam: c.32 ft 0 in (9.8 m)
Depth of hold: c.16 ft 0 in (4.9 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Sloop
Complement: French service: 200 (war) & 120 (peace)[5]
Armament: French service: 20 x 8-pounder guns (main deck) + 6 x 6-pounder guns (spar deck)

French career

On 18 December 1782, she departed Toulon with the frigates Précieuse and Prosélyte to escort a convoy to the Caribbean, comprising the fluyts Gracieuse, Rhône and Durance.[1]

In 1784, she sailed for a mission to the Middle East under Pierre-Dimas Thierry, Marquis de la Prévalaye, and in 1789 she was sent to Martinique.[1]

In November - December 1790, she was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, who sailed from Toulon to Algiers with M. Vallière, France's consul general in Algeria. She also carried dispatches for the naval station and French consuls in the Levant.[6]

Between January and July 1793, she was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Farquharson-Stuart. She sailed from Villefranche to Calvi via Toulon. She then escorted a convoy of troop transports from Calvi to the Gulf of Palmas via Ajaccio before returning to Villefranche. She next cruised the Ligurian coast while escorting convoys between Genoa and Marseilles.[7] The British captured her at Toulon in 1793.[8]

British service

The British took her into service as a 28-gun sixth rate. Initially she remained under Farquharson-Stuart's command, in the French Division under Rear-Admiral Trogoff de Kerlessy.[9]

On 1 July 1794 Commander Ralph Miller became her captain. Miller had volunteered to lead an assault on the French ships moored at Golfe Jouan, and Admiral Samuel Hood appointed him to command Poulette and fit her as fireship, with the intention of setting fire to the anchored French fleet. Miller eventually made five attempts to take her into the anchorage, but the wind prevented him on each occasion.[10] Hood then abandoned the project.

Poulette was in the van division under Vice-Admiral Samuel Goodall at the naval battle of Genoa on 14 March 1795. The battle, between British and Neapolitan warships under Vice-Admiral William Hotham and a French fleet under Rear-Admiral Pierre Martin, ended in a British-Neapolitan victory. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp 14 March 1795 to all surviving claimants from the action.

On 12 January 1796 Miller was next assigned to command Mignonne, but Admiral Sir John Jervis instead moved him to HMS Unite.[10] Captain Jeremiah Edwards replaced Miller on Poulette.[4][11]

Fate

The British burnt Poulette and her sister ship Belette on 20 October 1796 at Ajaccio in the face of the advancing French troops. The two sloops were not seaworthy enough for use in evacuating the island of Corsica.[11]

Citations
  1. Roche, p.359
  2. Demerliac (1996), p.74, #468.
  3. "No. 20939". The London Gazette. 26 January 1849. p. 237.
  4. Winfield (2008), p.224.
  5. Winfield and Roberts (2015), p.165.
  6. Fonds, Vol. 1, p.22.
  7. Fonds. Vol. 1, p.52.
  8. "No. 13613". The London Gazette. 17 January 1794. p. 45.
  9. Naval Chronicle, Vol. 2, p.197.
  10. Willyams (1802), pp.198-9.
  11. Hepper (1994), p.82.

References
  • Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3
  • Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 209 (1790-1804)
  • Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650-1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
  • Willyams, Cooper (1802). A Voyage Up the Mediterranean in His Majesty's Ship the Swiftsure, One of the Squadron Under the Command of Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson ... with a Description of the Battle of the Nile on the First of August 1798. White.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
  • Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 - 1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing). ISBN 9781848322042
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