HMS Gaiete (1797)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
|
|
| Name: | Gaieté or Gayette |
| Builder: | Bayonne |
| Laid down: | October 1793 |
| Launched: | 1796 |
| Fate: | Captured by Arethusa, 10 August 1797 |
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Gaiete |
| Acquired: | By capture, 10 August 1797 |
| Commissioned: | June 1798 |
| Fate: | Sold, 1808 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Corvette |
| Tons burthen: | 514 20⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: | 120 ft 3 1⁄2 in (36.7 m) (overall); 100 ft 0 3⁄4 in (30.5 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 30 ft 1 in (9.2 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 8 ft 8 in (2.6 m) |
| Complement: |
|
| Armament: |
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HMS Gaiete (also Gayette) was a French Bonne Citoyenne-class corvette that the British frigate HMS Arethusa captured off Bermuda in 1797. She then served the Royal Navy until she was sold in 1808.
Gaité initially sailed from Bayonne to Rochefort. She then received the mission to carry passengers and supplies to Cayenne. Her mission completed, she proceeded to patrol the Antilles.
At daybreak on 10 August 1797 44-gun Arethusa, under the command of Captain Thomas Wolley, was in the Atlantic Ocean at 30°49′N 55°50′W / 30.817°N 55.833°W when she sighted three ships to windward. At 7:30 a.m. one of the ships bore down to within half-gunshot, and opened fire. She proved to be the 20-gun Gaieté, under the command of Enseigne de vaisseau Jean-François Guignier. She had been out of Cayenne about four weeks when she encountered Arethusa.
With Gaieté having taken on a ship twice her size, there could only be one outcome. The British captured Gaieté within half an hour. She had sustained considerable damage to her sails and rigging, and lost two seamen killed and eight wounded, including Ensign Dubourdieu.Arethusa lost one seaman killed, and the captain's clerk and two seamen wounded.
The French brig Espoir observed the engagement and then sailed away. The Royal Navy captured Espoir in September, in the Mediterranean.
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Wikipedia