French frigate Hébé (1782)
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Proserpine, sister-ship of Hébé
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| History | |
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 Kingdom of France
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| Name: | Hébé |
| Namesake: | Hebe |
| Builder: | Saint Malo |
| Laid down: | December 1781 |
| Launched: | 25 June 1782 |
| Commissioned: | August 1782 |
| Fate: | Captured by the Royal Navy in the Action of 4 September 1782 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Hébé-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 700 tonnes |
| Length: | 46.3 m (152 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.9 m (39 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.5 m (18 ft) |
| Complement: | 297 |
| Armament: |
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Hébé was a 38-gun of the French Navy, lead ship of the Hébé-class frigate.
Soon after her commissioning under Captain de Vigny, Hébé was tasked to escort a convoy from Saint Malo to Brest and protect shipping from the depredations of the British Royal Navy in the context of the Anglo-French War.
In the Action of 4 September 1782, she was chased by the frigate HMS Rainbow, whose 32-pounder chase guns shot away her wheel and mortally wounded her second captain Yves-Gabriel Calloët de Lanidy. The weight of the ball made de Vigny mistake Rainbow for a disguised ship of the line. Even though the first shots had shown that Rainbow 's guns had a shorter range than Hébé's stern chasers, de Vigny never altered his course to take advantage of the longer range of his guns by firing back a full broadside. Later in the morning, the foremast of Hébé was seriously damaged and another man killed. An hour and a half later, when Rainbow was about to comme alongside, de Vigny could only fire his four of five most rear port guns and immediately struck his colours.
The Royal Navy took Hébé was into service first as HMS Hebe.
On 3 July 1795 Melampus and Hebe intercepted a convoy of 13 vessels off St Malo. Melampus captured an armed brig and Hebe captured six merchant vessels: Maria Louisa, Abeille. Bon Foi, Patrouille, Eleonore, and Pecheur. The brig of war was armed with four 24-pounders and had a crew of 60 men. Later she was identified as the 4-gun Vésuve. The convoy had been on its way from Île-de-Bréhat to Brest.Seaflower, Daphne and the cutter Sprightly shared in the prize and head money. The Royal Navy took Vésuve into service as HMS Vesuve.
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