French frigate Furieuse (1797)

The captured Furieuse is taken in tow, a print by Thomas Whitcombe
History
France
Name:	Furieuse
Builder:	Cherbourg
Laid down:	23 March 1795
Launched:	22 September 1797
Captured:	By the Royal Navy on 6 July 1809
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Furieuse
Acquired:	6 July 1809
Fate:	Broken up in October 1816
General characteristics
Class and type:	38-gun fifth-rate Seine-class frigate
Tons burthen:	1083  13⁄94 (bm)
Length:	157 ft 3 in (47.93 m)
Beam:	39 ft 1 in (11.91 m)
Draught:	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	284
Armament:	En flûte: 12 x 42-pounder carronades + 2 x 24-pounder guns + 6 guns of smaller calibre British service Upper deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 12 x 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 12-pounder guns, 2 x 32-pounder carronades, 1 x 18-pounder carronade, 1 x 12-pounder carronade

Furieuse was a 38-gun frigate of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1809 and took her into service as the fifth rate HMS Furieuse. She spent most of her British career in the Mediterranean Sea, though towards the end of the War of 1812 she served briefly on the North American station. She was laid up in 1815 and sold for breaking up in 1816.

Furieuse was built at Cherbourg in 1795 to a design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait. She began as a Romaine-class frigate but was completed as a Seine-class frigate.

By 1809 Furieuse was in the Caribbean, having come out with Admiral Amable Troude's expedition to the Caribbean. She escaped from Îles des Saintes on 1 April. She left Basse Terre 14 June, carrying sugar and coffee to France, and under the command of Lieutenant Gabriel-Étienne-Louis Le Marant Kerdaniel. She was capable of carrying 48 guns, but was armed en flûte, carrying only 20 at the time of her capture, 12 of which were carrondades. She had a large crew, with 200 sailors, 40 soldiers and a detachment of troops from the 66th regiment of the line. On her voyage to France she came across a large English merchant vessel on 5 July. Furieuse was in the process of taking possession of the merchantman when the 20-gun sloop HMS Bonne Citoyenne, commanded by Commander William Mounsey, came upon the scene.

Bonne Citoyenne was returning to a convoy she was escorting in company with HMS Inflexible, under Captain Brown, but on seeing what was happening, Mounsey sailed to intervene. As Bonne Citoyenne approached, Furieuse abandoned her prize and began to flee northwards. Emboldened, Mounsey set off in pursuit; after an 18-hour chase Bonne Citoyenne had closed the range and brought Furieuse to battle.