HMS Arethusa (1759)
The battle between HMS Arethusa and the Belle-Poule, painting by Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy
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| History | |
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 Kingdom of France
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| Name: | Aréthuse |
| Namesake: | Arethusa (mythology) |
| Builder: | Le Havre |
| Launched: | December 1757 |
| Commissioned: | 1757 |
| Captured: | by the Royal Navy, 18 May 1759 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Arethusa |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 19 March 1779. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Fifth rate frigate |
| Length: | 132 ft (40 m) |
| Beam: | 34 ft (10 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Complement: | 270 |
| Armament: | Pierced for 36 guns, 32 mounted (1759) |
Aréthuse was a French frigate, launched in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. She was captured by the Royal Navy in 1759 and became the fifth-rate HMS Arethusa. She remained in Royal Navy service for twenty years until she was wrecked after being badly damaged in battle.
The ship was constructed at Le Havre for privateer warfare as Pélerine. Soon after her launch, she was purchased by the King and commissioned as Aréthuse on 21 January 1758.
In June, under captain Vauquelin, she sailed through the British blockade of Louisbourg. She helped defend the site before departing, again forcing the blockade.
On 18 May 1759, she was in transit from Rochefort to Brest, under the command of the Marquis Vandrenil, when she was intercepted near Audierne Bay ((in French)) by three Royal Navy ships - Thames, Venus and Chatham. She attempted to escape but after two hours, she lost her top-masts and was overtaken by her pursuers. Thames and Venus engaged her with heavy fire, causing 60 casualties before she surrendered.
She entered service with the Royal Navy. For the rest of the war, she was in service in British home waters and was responsible for the capture of several French, privateer cutters.
In 1777, a Scotsman James Aitken, widely known as John the Painter, was hanged from her mizzenmast for burning the Rope House at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard on 7 December 1776, to aid the cause of American independence . The mast was struck from the ship and re-erected at the dockyard entrance so as many people as possible could watch the execution. This was the only execution for arson in royal dockyards.
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Wikipedia