French frigate Armide (1804)

The action of September 1805 in which the French captured HMS Calcutta, by Thomas Whitcombe
History
France
Name:	Armide
Namesake:	Armida
Builder:	Rochefort
Laid down:	November 1802
Launched:	24 April 1804
Commissioned:	1804
Captured:	1806
Great Britain
Name:	Armide
Struck:	1815
Fate:	Broken up
General characteristics
Class and type:	Armide-class
Displacement:	1330 tonnes
Tons burthen:	110430/94 (bm)
Length:	47 m (154 ft)
Beam:	12 m (39 ft)
Draught:	5.5 m (18 ft)
Propulsion:	Sail
Complement:	French service: 339 British service: 284; later 315
Armament:	French service 28 × 18-pounder long guns 8 × 8-pounders 8 × 36-pounder carronades British service UD: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns 2 × 32-pounder carronades
Armour:	Timber

Armide was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, and launched in 1804 at Rochefort. She served briefly in the French navy before the British captured her in 1806. She went on to serve in the British Navy until 1815 when she was broken up.

She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805. On 18 July, she captured and burnt a Prussian cutter to maintain the secrecy of the movements of the fleet, in spite of the neutrality of Prussia at the time. The next day, she captured HMS Ranger and burnt her. She then took part in the assault on the Calcutta convoy, helping Magnanime engage and capture HMS Calcutta.

In March 1806, under Amable Troude, Armide helped repel an attack led by Robert Stopford at Les Sables-d'Olonne.

During the Action of 25 September 1806, HMS Centaur, under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, captured Armide, which was under the command of Captain Jean-Jacques-Jude Langlois, and assisted in the capture of Infatigable, Gloire and Minerve. Centaur lost three men killed and three wounded. In addition, a musket ball shattered Hood's arm, which had to be amputated. The wound forced Hood to quit the deck and leave the ship in the charge of Lieutenant William Case. Centaur also lost most of her lower rigging. In all, the British lost nine men killed and 32 wounded. Hood estimated that the French had 650 men aboard each vessel, inclusive of soldiers, but put off till later any estimate of their losses.