French corvette Étonnante (1796)

History
France
Name: Étonnante
Namesake: "Surprising"
Builder: Fouache & Reine, Honfleur
Laid down: June 1796
Launched: 27 August 1795
In service: November 1796
Fate: Hulked in Brest in 1806
General characteristics [1][2]
Type: Corvette
Displacement: 640-719 tons (French)
Length:
  • 35.95 m (117.9 ft) (overall)
  • 32.48 m (106.6 ft) (keel)
Beam: 9.74 m (32.0 ft)
Draught: 4.68 m (15.4 ft) (unladen)
Depth of hold: 4.82 m (15.8 ft)
Propulsion: Sail
Armament:
Armour: Timber

Étonnante was an 18-gun Etna-class corvette of the French Navy, launched in 1795. She was struck from the navy in 1804 and hulked in 1806.

Career

In the night of 13 to 14 November 1796, Étonnante departed Le Havre with her sister-ship Etna, and was chased by HMS Melampus and HMS Minerva, which drove her ashore near Barfleur. However the British were not able to get close enough to assure the destruction of Étonnante. Still, they were able to capture Etna.[3] The French were able with difficulty to salvage Étonnante.[2]

Étonnante later served at Saint-Malo in 1797 and at Brest in 1802. She was struck in 1804.[1] She then underwent conversion to a ponton arrière-garde or corps de garde. She disappears from records after 1806.[2]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

    Citations

    1. 1 2 Roche (2005), p. 186.
    2. 1 2 3 Winfield and Roberts (2015 forthcoming), Chap. 6.
    3. ↑ "No. 13953". The London Gazette. 19 November 1796. p. 1116.

    References

    • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671–1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 186. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
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