French frigate Félicité (1785)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
|
|
| Name: | Félicité |
| Namesake: | Felicity |
| Builder: | Brest |
| Laid down: | 1 January 1785 |
| Launched: | 4 August 1785 |
| In service: | 28 August 1785 |
| Out of service: | 16 June 1809 |
 State of Haiti
|
|
| Name: | Améthyste |
| Namesake: | Amethyst |
| In service: | 1809 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Félicité class frigate |
| Displacement: | 700 tonnes |
| Length: | 44.2 m (145 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.3 m (37 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.6 m (18 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: | 26 × 12-pounder guns + 12 × 8-pounder guns + 6 × howitzers |
| Armour: | Timber |
The Félicité was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. Captured by the British Navy and sold to the State of Haiti, she entered Haitian service as Améthyste.
In 1792, she traveled to the Caribbean Sea. On 29 December, she took part in the capture of the royalist brig Légère off Saint-Pierre.
On 6 February 1806, she was present at the Battle of San Domingo, from which she escaped unharmed together with two other French vessels, the 36-gun frigate Cornélie and the 20-gun ship-corvette Diligente.
The frigates Comète and Félicité, and the corvette Diligente captured and burned the American vessel Lark, Moore, master, which was sailing from Philadelphia to Jamaica.
In February 1809, she sailed with Troude's division to the Caribbean, armed en flûte.
In May, British ships chased two French frigates, armed en flûte and bringing supplies to Martinique, into the Basse Terre roads. The British set up a blockade, trapping Félicité and Furieuse in their shelter. By this time HMS Unique, was in poor condition - in particular she was leaky, in part from the constant firing of her guns at shore batteries. The decision was made to use her as a fireship in an attempt to destroy one or both of the French vessels. On 31 May she was sent in during the evening but the mission failed. Having been lightened of most of her stores, Unique was vulnerable to gusts of wind, and she grounded not far from one of her targets. Her captain then set fire to a train of explosives to prevent her falling into French hands. Félicité and Furieuse escaped some time later, only to end up being captured. HMS Bonne Citoyenne captured Furieuse on 5 July; Félicité's French service lasted only a few months longer.
...
Wikipedia