Whilst all the planning and preparations for Camperdown have been going on, work has continued in JJ's shipyard with two French frigates and a brig from Turner Miniatures and Only Games being rigged and fitted out in readiness for some of my single-ship/small squadron encounters.
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| From left to right, the 16-gun Vigilant Class brig, and the two frigates, 32-gun Magicienne and Unité Class (frigate/corvette). |
The models in question are the 32-gun Magicienne and Unité Class (corvette) French frigate together with a 16-gun Vigilant Class Brig, the two frigates available in their British fit out as repurposed captured models, but here depicted in their French fit out specifically to work as smaller French frigate options typical of the earlier encounters in the French Revolutionary War before the larger 38/40 gunners began to dominate.
Magicienne 32/36-gun Fifth-Rate.
The Magicienne class was a class of twelve fifth rate 32-gun frigates of the French Navy, each with a main battery of 26×12-pounder long guns, and with 6×6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, and were designed by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb. |
1:48 Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Magicienne (1781), a captured French Frigate, as taken off prior to fitting as a 32-gun Fifth Rate Frigate at Chatham Dockyard - RMG |
Magicienne, the lead ship of her class was captured in 1781 and served with the Royal Navy until her crew burned her in 1810 to prevent her capture after she grounded at Isle de France (now Mauritius). During her service with the Royal Navy she captured several privateers and participated in the Battle of San Domingo.
Her general characteristics were:
Tons burthen 578 73/94 tons (bm)
Length of gundeck 143 feet, 9 inches
Beam 39 feet, 3 inches
Draught 12 feet, 5 inches
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Her armament consisted of:
Upper Gundeck: 26 x 12-pounder long guns.
Quarterdeck and Forecastle, (QD) 4 x 6-pounder long guns and (Fc) 2 x 6-pounder long guns.
A classic frigate action that featured a Magicienne Class frigate was that fought on the 20th October 1793 near Cherbourg in the English Channel, between the British 36-gun Flora class frigate Crescent commanded by Captain James Saumarez with several men aboard from my home town of Exmouth and La Réunion of 36-guns.
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| La Réunion in action with HMS Crescent, 20th October 1793 - Derek Gardner. |
France declared war on Britain on the 1st of February 1793 and began to focus heavily on the disruption of British commerce through the deployment of frigates on raiding operations against British commercial shipping in the English Channel.
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| La Réunion versus HMS Crescent, 20th October 1793. |
Two of the most successful raiders were the frigates Réunion and Sémillante, both then based in Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula, with these frigates making short cruises, leaving Cherbourg in the early evening and returning in the morning with any prizes they had encountered during the night.
The British response to the French raids was to attempt a blockade of the French coast, and to that end, despatched a number of vessels including the 36-gun frigate HMS Crescent, under Captain James Saumarez.
On the morning of 20th October, Réunion, under the command of Captain François Dénian, and a 14-gun cutter, the Espérance, were returning from a cruise when they were spotted by Crescent. A second British frigate, the 28-gun HMS Circe, was becalmed some nine nautical miles away and Espérance fled towards Cherbourg, leaving Réunion to engage Crescent alone. Although Réunion was bigger, 951 long tons compared to 888 long tons, and carried a larger crew, Crescent had a slight advantage in weight of shot, 315 pounds to 310 pounds and was marginally faster.
William James recounts the action;
'Just as the day dawned the Crescent, standing on the larboard tack, with the wind off shore, descried a ship and a large cutter coming in from the seaward: she immediately edged away for the two strangers, and, in a little while, ranged up on the larboard and weather side of the ship, which was the French 36-gun frigate Réunion, Captain François A. Dénian.
A close and spirited action now ensued, in the early part of which the Crescent lost her foretopsail yard, and soon afterwards her fore topmast; but, putting her helm hard a-starboard, she came suddenly round on the opposite tack, and brought her larboard guns to bear. The Réunion, by this time, had lost her fore yard and mizen topmast, and became exposed, in consequence, to several raking fires from the Crescent.
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| Capture of French frigate La Reunion by Royal Navy Flora-class frigate HMS Crescent off the Normandy Cotentin Peninsula (Cherbourg Peninsula), in 1793, painted by Charles Edward Dixon. |
After a brave resistance of two hours and ten minutes, by which time she was utterly defenceless, the Réunion struck her colours; a measure the more imperative, as the British 28-gun frigate Circe, Captain Joseph Sydney Yorke, which, during the greater part of the action, had laid becalmed about three leagues off, striving her utmost to get up, was now approaching. The cutter, which was believed to be the Espérance, mounting 12 or 14 guns, had made off as soon as the firing commenced, and escaped into Cherbourg.
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The capture of the French frigate Reunion by HMS Crescent, Captain J. Sumarez, 20 October 1793 - Robert Dodd. |
Both ships were a good deal damaged in their sails and rigging; and the Réunion, besides losing her fore yard, mizen topmast, and main topgallantmast, had several shots in her lower masts, and a still greater number in her hull. Almost the only shot that entered the Crescent's hull struck the apron, and set fire to the priming, of the forecastle 9-pounder on the opposite, or unengaged side; which, going off, discharged its contents in the direction of some gun-boats coming out of Cherbourg.
The Crescent's maindeck armament was that of her class, and her quarterdeck and forecastle guns were not, as we formerly stated, 14, but eight, carronades, 18-pounders, and two long 9-pounders, total 36 guns. Out of her 257 men and boys in crew, the Crescent had not a man hurt by the enemy's shot; but, in the very, first broadside, one of her seamen had his leg broken by the recoil of the gun he was fighting.
The Réunion, in her long guns, was armed the same as the Embuscade,* except in having eight instead of ten 6-pounders: she also had six brass 36-pounder carronades; making the total of her guns 40. The complement of the Réunion, according to the British official account, amounted to 320 men; but the number deposed to by the French officers, to entitle the captors to head-money, was 300. * Of these the French frigate, according to the letter of Captain Saumarez, lost 120 in killed and wounded; but, by another account, the loss on board the Réunion consisted of 33 officers, seamen, and marines killed, and 48 severely wounded.
Neither the Réunion's six heavy carronades, nor the Crescent's eight light ones, were very efficient pieces: hence the difference in the maindeck guns of the two frigates gave a decided advantage to the Crescent. Under all the circumstances, therefore, it must be owned that, if the officers and men of the Réunion lacked skill, they were by no means deficient in courage. Many persons on the French shore witnessed the combat; and the Réunion's concert in Cherbourg, believed to have been the Sémillante, made an attempt to go out to her assistance; but a contrary tide and the failure of wind, aided perhaps by the knowledge that a second enemy's frigate was in the offing, detained her in port.
As a reward for his services on this occasion, Captain Saumarez, soon after his arrival at Portsmouth, received the honour of knighthood; and, as a further proof how highly, the Crescent's performance was rated, Sir James was presented by the city of London with a handsome piece of plate. In addition to the reward bestowed upon Captain Saumarez, the Crescent's first lieutenant, George Parker, as he justly merited, was promoted to the rank of commander. The second and third lieutenants present in the action were Charles Otter and Peter Rye. The Réunion was purchased by the British government, and added to the navy, under the same name as a cruising 12-pounder 36-gun frigate.'
Unité 32-gun Fifth/Sixth-Rate.
Unité was the name ship for a class of corvette designed by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, and although the French initially rated Unité as a corvette, the ships of her class bridged a gap between smaller warships and frigates, and at various times were rated as frigates. |
Pierre-Alexandre Forfait - musée du Louvre département des Arts graphiques. |
Unité was built and later launched on the 16th January 1794 in Le Harvre and on the 20th March 1794, lieutenant de vaisseau Jean le Drézénec, who was 41 years old and had entered the naval service soon after the revolution from a career in the merchant service, arrived to take command of her.
Her general characteristics were:
Tons burthen 578 73/94 tons (bm)
Length of gundeck 126 feet
Beam 31 feet, 8 inches
Draught 10 feet
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| Unité - 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche on stern counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Unite (1796), a captured French Frigate, as taken off at Plymouth Dockyard prior to fitting as a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate - (RMG) |
Her armament consisted of:
Upper Gundeck: 24 x 8-pounder long guns.
Quarterdeck and Forecastle, 8 x 4-pounder long guns.
He supervised the fitting out of the ship, and found the long guns were too large to be easily reloaded, and the lower sails were also too large, notifying the authorities, who urged him to finish fitting out the ship because a major naval operation was imminent.
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| The Glorious First of June - Derek Gardner Unité was part of the French fleet that sortied into the Atlantic in May-June 1794. |
Soon afterwards, Unité took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June by escorting the dismasted Révolutionnaire as she was towed by the Audacieux.
On the 28th September, with the corvette Bergere and under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Gouley, the two ships left Brest to sail northwest in between Ireland and the islands of the Hebrides and St Kilda to intercept enemy merchant ships. On the 17th October, the ships captured a 200-ton merchant ship Dianne, however the next day the weather turned foul and the two ships were separated. Unwilling or unable to continue the mission alone, Unité searched for Bergere fruitlessly for sixteen days before finally returning to Brest on the 1st of November.
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The engagement between H.M.S. Phoenix and the French Frigate Didon, 10 August 1805, by Thomas Luny - Ashmolean Museum. Phoenix was a 36-gun Perseverance class frigate and a sister ship to the Inconstant that captured Unité. |
Captain Thomas Fremantle in command of the frigate HMS Inconstant had heard there was a French frigate in Bône, and sailed to intercept her. When Unité arrived in the afternoon of 20th April 1796, the watch aboard Unité identified Inconstant as a neutral vessel and Le Breton did not clear the ship for action, which meant that about an hour later, Inconstant was able to sail alongside, board and capture Unité intact.
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| Captain Thomas Fremantle. |
Fremantle made the following report about the capture
Copy of a letter from Captain Thomas Fremantle, of His Majesty's Ship Inconstant, to Evan Nepean, Esq; dated off Bastia, April 27, 1796
SIR, I have the honour of inclosing, for the information of their Lordships, the copy of a letter from me to Sir John Jervis, Knight of the Bath.
I am, &c. &c. THO. F. FREMANTLE.
lnconstant, at Sea, April 23, 1796.
SIR, I Have the honour to inform you, that on the 19th, cruizing near Tunis, 1 received an account that a French Frigate had been seen off Cape Mabera, near Bon; I therefore made sail for that place and on the evening of the 20th, perceived a ship under French Colours at anchor on the coast, which I came to, by, and directed to strike; this was prudently compiled with: She is called L'Unite, a Corvette of 34 gun and 218 men. The crew had made an attempt to set her on fire, but by the exertions of Lieutenant Hutchinson it was soon extinguished: Had the ship been of equal Force with the Inconstant, I have every Reason to believe it would have afforded me a further proof of the spirit and steadiness of every officer and person on board the ship 1 command,
I am, &C. Sec.
THO. FRA. FREMANTLE
Surprise was re-classed by the British as a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate, though she carried twenty-four 32 pound carronades on her main deck, eight 32-pounders on her quarter and foredecks and two (or four) long 6-pounders as chasers.
As in the French Navy, this led to difficulty in her rating, considered a fifth rate from 1797-98 but a sixth rate the rest of her commission. Also, she bore the main-mast of a 36 gun ship, just as unusual as her large armament.
Under Captain Edward Hamilton, the Surprise sailed in the Caribbean for several years, capturing several privateers. HMS Surprise gained fame for the cutting-out expedition in 1799 of HMS Hermione. Hermione's crew had mutinied, and had sailed her into the Spanish possession of Puerto Cabello. Captain Edward Hamilton of Surprise led a boarding party to retake Hermione and, after an exceptionally bloody action, sailed her out of danger under Spanish gunfire. The Spanish casualties included 119 dead; 231 were taken prisoner, while another 15 jumped or fell overboard. Hamilton had 11 injured, four seriously, but none killed.
Although her career was most notable in itself, HMS Surprise was made legendary as the favourite ship of Captain Jack Aubrey in the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series of novels.
Under Captain Edward Hamilton, the Surprise sailed in the Caribbean for several years, capturing several privateers. HMS Surprise gained fame for the cutting-out expedition in 1799 of HMS Hermione. Hermione's crew had mutinied, and had sailed her into the Spanish possession of Puerto Cabello. Captain Edward Hamilton of Surprise led a boarding party to retake Hermione and, after an exceptionally bloody action, sailed her out of danger under Spanish gunfire. The Spanish casualties included 119 dead; 231 were taken prisoner, while another 15 jumped or fell overboard. Hamilton had 11 injured, four seriously, but none killed.
Although her career was most notable in itself, HMS Surprise was made legendary as the favourite ship of Captain Jack Aubrey in the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series of novels.
Vigilant Class 16-gun Brig.
The Vigilant class 16-gun brig was another design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, all built by Entreprise Thibaudier at Le Havre, for whom the Le Havre shipbuilder Jean Fouache acted as constructor until his death on the 25th May 1800. |
The British Brig-Sloop Suffisante
chasing down the French Brig-Corvette Revanche 27th May 1796 - Derek Gardner. My new Vigilant class French brig will come in handy for refighting Suffisante versus the French privateer brig Revanche of 14-guns and of a similar size. |
Including the Vigilant, launched 20th July 1800, that gave her name to the class, there were an additional five vessels, Surveillant, launched 4th August 1800, Argus, launched 20th July 1800, Observateur, launched 20th July 1800, Bélier, launched 22nd July 1800 and Diligent, launched 25th June 1800.
Vigilant's general characteristics were:
Tons burthen 373 tons (bm)
Length of gundeck 86 feet
Beam 26 feet
Draught 10 feet, 2 inches
Her armament consisted of:
Gundeck: 16 x 4-pounder long guns as designed.*
*Some of the class were later adapted to 16 x 6 pounder long guns (Observateur & Bélier 1803), 6-pdrs plus an additional 2 x36pdr Obusiers (French carronade) (Surveillant 1805), 14 x 8-pounder long guns (Argus 1805), 14 x 4-pdrs and 4 x 12-pdr British carronades (Observateur 1805).
She was at the battle of Trafalgar, but did not engage in combat, and on the 23rd of October 1805, French Captain Julien Cosmao made a sortie from Cadiz with some of the more seaworthy ships that had escaped the battle, in an attempt to retake some of the captured prizes. Argus was among the sortieing vessels, however the storm that came up wrecked many vessels and forced the remains of the French fleet back to Cadiz, where the Spanish seized a number of them after Spain entered the war against France in 1808. However, Argus was not among the seized vessels.
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| The Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805 - Nicholas Pocock. In this view of the opening stage of the battle as Nelson's HMS Victory breaks the Allied line and Collingwood's HMS Royal Sovereign is already in action in the background, the frigate Cornelie leads the Allied light ships, extreme left, followed by brig Furet, frigate Hortense and further back, extreme left frigate Rhin and the brig Argus. |
Argus left Cayenne, French Guiana on the 15th March 1806, provisioned for a cruise of four months and in company with her sister, French brig Observateur. Argus was eager to escape the British blockade and abandoned Observateur, which, however, was able to hold off her attacker, but was later captured by the British on the 9th June 1806, off Bermuda by the 32-gun frigate Tartar.
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| The 1799 Clement-Cruttwell Map of South America showing Cayenne where Argus and Observateur based themselves in 1806 to raid British merchant trade. |
In late 1806, Argus, of sixteen 9-pounder guns and 120 men, and a schooner of two 18-pounder guns and 30 men, encountered HMS Express a schooner rigged advice-boat armed with four 18-pounder and six 12-pounder carronades together with two 4-pounder long guns. The encounter was inconclusive as the French broke off the action and sailed away. Express had three men wounded, and she had exhausted all her 18-pounder shot. The governor of Martinique, Admiral Villaret Joyeuse, reportedly cashiered Argus's captain for his failure to capture Express.
Argus fought off Cayenne on the 27th January 1807 at the side of Favourite. The British report from the engagement states that Argus was armed with fourteen brass 8-pounder guns, which were the equivalent of English 9-pounders, and had a crew of 120 men.
William James had this to say about the action;
On the 27th of January, at daylight, Soramine river on the coast of Guayana bearing south by east distant 26 miles, the British 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Jason, Captain Thomas Cochrane, descried and chased a ship and brig, evidently cruisers, about six miles upon her weather beam.
At 1.0 h. 15 m. A.M. the Jason brought the ship to action, and presently compelled her to haul down her colours. The prize proved to be the late British sloop of war Favourite, mounting 16 long 6-pounders and two 12-pounder carronades on the main deck, and eleven 12-pounder carronades on the quarterdeck and forecastle; total, 29 guns, all English caliber, with a complement of 150 men, commanded by Lieutenant de vaisseau Gabriel-Etienne-Louis Le Marant-Kerdaniel. The brig in her company, when first chased, was a corvette of 14 brass 8-pounders and 120 men.'
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| With this small model brig, I opted to use the smallest 3D print anchors from Turner Miniatures, seen here in the close up and fitting perfectly for this little brig. |
The Models.
These 3D hull prints work really well with the Warlord masts, boats and other items, whilst really capturing the unique look of the vessels they represent, and the small actions outlined here in the post show how they will really bring those little fights to life on the table, with similarly turned out opponents.
_at_Start_Point,_1793_RCIN_735014_(cropped).jpg) |
| A view of the action on 18th June 1793 off Start Point, Devon in which the British frigate Nymphe, Captain Edward Pellew (1793-8), took the French frigate Cléopâtre. French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802): War of the First Coalition (1792-8). Robert Dodd. A close up of the Cléopâtre with the republican colours just visible at the stern taken from a larger view depicting the scene just before action was joined, for which my early war Magicienne will make an ideal stand in. |
Needless to say, although representing specific types and classes these models will also stand in nicely for other similar French types, hence my interpretation of Magicienne with her early model French naval ensign coming to the rescue when I need a French 32-gun frigate of the period, such as Captain Jean Mullon's Venus Class 32-gun frigate, Cléopâtre at the Action off Start Point 18th June 1793.
Similarly, the Unité model is available as standard but also depicted as the refurbished version fitted out for HMS Surprise as mentioned above and looking quite different from her French origins.
In the next series of 3D prints I intend to turn my attention to the War of 1812 and the British large frigates together with two of the American super-frigates, before focussing on the smaller British types and some Spanish options, so lots to get stuck into in the next few months whilst playing with the Camperdown collection and prior to turning towards my next big project from the period.
As I say, more anon.
JJ
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