French frigate Aigle (1782)
| History | |
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.svg){kind=small} France
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| Name: | Aigle |
| Namesake: | Eagle |
| Builder: | Dujardin, Saint Malo, plans by Jacques-Noël Sané |
| Laid down: | 1779 |
| Launched: | 11 February 1780 |
| Acquired: | April 1782 by purchase |
| Fate: | captured on 1782 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Aigle |
| Acquired: | September 1782 by capture |
| Fate: | Wrecked July 1798 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1200 tons (French) |
| Length: | 147 ft 5 in (44.93 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft 3 in (11.96 m) |
| Draught: | 5.4 m (18 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: | French service:360 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | Timber |
The French frigate Aigle was launched in 1780 as a privateer. The French navy purchased her in 1782, but the British captured her that same year and took her into the Royal Navy as a 38-gun fifth rate under her existing name. During the French Revolutionary Wars she served primarily in the Mediterranean, where she wrecked in 1798.
In early 1782, Captain Latouche assumed command of Aigle, which, along with the frigate Gloire, under Captain de Vallongue, ferried funds and equipment for the fleet of Admiral Vaudreil. On their way, Aigle and Gloire skirmished with the 74-gun HMS Hector in the night Action of 5 September 1782; Hector was sailing to Hallifax with a prize crew, in a convoy under Rear-admiral Graves. The reduced crew of Hector allowed the frigates to battle her in spite of her overwhelmingly superior artillery; she was saved from captured when the morning revealed the rest of the convoy and Latouche decided to retreat.
Aigle and Gloire captured HMS Racoon off the Delaware River on 10 September 1782. Three days later, a small British squadron consisting of HMS Vestal, HMS Bonetta, and the prize Sophie, led by Captain G.K. Elphinston in HMS Warwick, sighted the three vessels anchored in the Delaware River off Cape Henlopen Light. The British set out in chase, but the French were able to navigate the sandbanks with the help of Racoon's pilot, who agreed to help the French for a payment of 500 Louis d'or. Still, Aigle ran aground, which enabled the British to capture her, and with her all of Racoon's crew. Aigle had had on board some senior French officers, who escaped ashore, as did the now-wealthy pilot. Latouche had cut away her masts in an attempt to lighten her, and when that failed, had had holes bored in her hull. He remained with her and struck her colours on 15 September. Despite the attempts to scuttle Aigle, the British were able to refloat her and took her into service under her own name. Gloire and Racoon escaped.
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Wikipedia