French brig Alerte (1787)
| History | |
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.svg){kind=small} France
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| Name: | Alerte |
| Ordered: | 1786 |
| Builder: | Hubert Pennevert,Rochefort dockyard |
| Laid down: | 1786 |
| Launched: | 20 April 1787 |
| Commissioned: | January 1788 |
| Captured: | 28 August 1793 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Alerte |
| Acquired: | 28 August 1793 |
| Fate: | Burnt, 18 December 1793 |
 France
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| Name: | Alerte |
| Acquired: | by salvage, 28 December 1793 |
| Captured: | 17 June 1799 |
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United Kingdom
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| Name: | Minorca |
| Namesake: | Minorca |
| Acquired: | 17 June 1799 |
| Commissioned: | August 1800 |
| Out of service: | April 1802 |
| Honours and awards: |
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt" |
| Fate: | Sold, 1802 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Brig |
| Displacement: | 330 tons (French) |
| Tons burthen: | 248 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 26 ft 7 in (8.1 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 10 ft 0 in (3.0 m) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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The French brig Alerte was launched in April 1787. The Royal Navy captured her at Toulon in August 1793, and renamed her HMS Vigilante. The British set her on fire when they evacuated Toulon in December of that year. After the French rebuilt her as Alerte, she served at the Battle of Aboukir Bay. The British recaptured her in June 1799 and took her into service as HMS Minorca. Minorca was sold in 1802.
Alerte was built at Rochefort Dockyard and designed as an aviso, under the designation Aviso No. 1. Hubert Pennevert completed her as a bric of 10 guns.
In 1790 she was under the command of Sous-lieutenant de vaisseau D'Aujard in the Levant. In November 1791, still under the command of D'Aujard, she was cruising off the coast of Syria. In 1793 she cruised along the Ligurian coast, escorted a convoy from Villefranche to Toulon, and sailed from Tunis to Marseilles. Between 4 April and 17 May she was under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Courdouan; between 17 July and 5 August she was under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Marchand.
On 28 August 1793, the British occupied Toulon, where Alerte was among the many vessels they seized. The British renamed her HMS Vigilante, before renaming her back to Alert or Alerte. In September she was under the command of Commander William Edge.
The Siege of Toulon went badly for the Royalist, and Spanish and British forces, and they were forced to quit the city on 18 December. As they did so, they set fire to the "Frigate Alerte", of "16 guns" and "in want of repairs".
Alerte burned to her waterline, but the French were able to rebuild her at Toulon during January and February 1794. She was in dry-dock at Venice between June and July 1797.
On 1 August 1798 she was at the battle of Aboukir Bay (Battle of the Nile). Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers hoped to lure the British fleet onto the shoals at Aboukir Island, sending the brigs Alerte and Railleur to act as decoys in the shallow waters, but the plan failed. Then, as the British fleet approached, Brueys sent Alerte ahead, passing close to the leading British ships and then steering sharply to the west over the shoal in the hope that the ships of the line might follow and become grounded. None of Nelson's captains fell for the ruse and the British fleet continued undeterred.
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Wikipedia