HMS Junon (1809)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
|
|
| Name: | Junon |
| Ordered: | 26 March 1805 |
| Laid down: | March 1805, Le Havre |
| Launched: | 16 August 1806 |
| Captured: | 10 February 1809 |
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | Junon |
| Acquired: | 10 February 1809 |
| Captured: | 13 December 1809 |
| Fate: | Scuttled by fire |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 1148 bm |
| Length: | 46 metres (151 ft) |
| Beam: | 12 metres (39 ft) |
| Draught: | 7 metres (23 ft) |
| Complement: | 330 men |
| Armament: |
|
| Armour: | Timber |
The Junon was a Gloire class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy. Launched in 1806, she saw service during the Napoleonic Wars, escorting merchant convoys to France's besieged Caribbean colonies. In February 1809 she was captured at sea after a fierce engagement with four Royal Navy vessels.
Recommissioned as HMS Junon, she served as part of the British blockade of French ports in the Caribbean. French frigates recaptured her in December 1809 off the French colony of Guadeloupe. The engagement so damaged Junon that her captors scuttled her.
On 10 November 1808, under capitaine de frégate Rousseau, Junon departed for Martinique, along with Vénus, Amphitrite, Cygne and Papillon. The squadron broke apart the next day, and she found herself isolated. On 10 February 1809 she ran across a British squadron composed of the frigates HMS Horatio and HMS Latona, the brig HMS Driver, and the schooner HMS Superieure; Junon surrendered after a lengthy resistance that left the ship entirely dismasted and with more than half her crew killed. The British towed her to Halifax, Nova Scotia for repair. There she was subsequently commissioned into the Royal Navy as the 38-gun HMS Junon.
Her repairs completed, Junon returned to the Caribbean in September 1809 under the command of Captain John Shortland, under orders to enforce a naval blockade of French-controlled Guadeloupe.
At 2.15pm on 13 December, Junon was in company with the 14-gun sloop-of-war HMS Observateur when her crew sighted four unknown ships heading west towards the French colony. Both British vessels turned to intercept, with Observateur in the lead. The four unknown vessels were swiftly identified as frigates rather than merchantmen. Commander Wetherall of Observateur signaled this information to Junon and ordered his own ship cleared for action.
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Wikipedia