HMS Concord (1783)

Concorde and Engageante, depicted at the Action of 23 April 1794
History
France
Name:	Concorde
Builder:	Rochefort
Laid down:	April 1777
Launched:	3 September 1777
Completed:	January 1778
Captured:	By the Royal Navy on 15 February 1783
UK
Name:	HMS Concorde
Acquired:	15 February 1783
Fate:	Sold on 21 February 1811
General characteristics
Class and type:	32-gun fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	888 ​82⁄94 bm
Length:	142 ft 11 in (43.6 m) (overall) 118 ft 10 in (36.2 m) (keel)
Beam:	37 ft 6 in (11.4 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft 7 in (3.53 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	220
Armament:	(as HMS Concorde) Upper deck: 28 x 12-pdrs Quarter deck: 4 x 6-pdrs + 6 x 24-pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 x 6-pdrs + 2 x 24-pdr carronades (From 1793 all 6-pdrs were all replaced by 24-pdr carronades, later reinstated)

Concorde (originally Le Concorde) was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. Built in Rochefort in 1777, she entered service with the French early in the American War of Independence, and was soon in action, capturing HMS Minerva in the West Indies. She survived almost until the end of the war, but was captured by HMS Magnificent in 1783. Not immediately brought into service due to the draw-down in the navy after the end of the war, she underwent repairs and returned to active service under the White Ensign with the outbreak of war with France in 1793 as the fifth-rate HMS Concorde.

Initially part of squadrons cruising off the French coast, she played an important part in the Action of 23 April 1794, capturing the French frigate Engageante, and at a later engagement, where she helped to capture the French frigate Virginie. From 1797 until the early 19th century she had especial success against privateers, capturing a large number in the West Indies and in the Atlantic. She had a narrow escape from a superior French force in 1801, but was able to batter her pursuer, the 40-gun Bravoure into submission. She was prevented from capturing her by the arrival of French reinforcements. Her last years were spent on a variety of stations, including at the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies. Laid up in 1807, she was sold for breaking up in 1811.

Concorde was one of a three-ship class of Concorde-class frigates built for the French Navy to a design by Henri Chevillard. She was built at Rochefort between April 1777 and January 1778, being launched on 3 September 1777. She went out to the West Indies after the French entry to the American War of Independence, and reached Martinique on 17 August 1778. On 28 August 1778 she came up on the 32-gun HMS Minerva, under Captain John Stott, and after two and a half hours of fighting, captured her.Minerva was towed to Cap Français on Saint-Domingue, where she was joined shortly afterwards by the captured HMS Active, which a hurricane had dismasted in late August and which the French frigates Charmante and Dédaigneuse had captured on 1 September.