HMS Monsieur (1780)
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} France
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| Name: | Monsieur |
| Owner: | Messrs. Laforterie-Valmont, Deslandes, and Leboucher de Vallefleur |
| Builder: | Le Havre |
| Laid down: | July 1778 |
| Launched: | 1779 |
| Fate: | Captured 1780 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Monsieur |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| In service: | 1780 |
| Out of service: | 1783 |
| Fate: | Sold 1783 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 818 75⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 36 ft 6 1⁄2 in (11.138 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 17 ft 9 1⁄2 in (5.423 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: |
Privateer: 398 British service: 255 (from 21 December 1780) |
| Armament: | |
Privateer: 398
HMS Monsieur was the former 40-gun French privateer Monsieur, built at Le Havre between July 1778 and 1779, then armed at Granville. The Royal Navy captured her in 1780 and subsequently put her into service as a 36-gun Fifth Rate. This frigate was sold in 1783.
From August 1779 to March 1780, Nicholas Guidelou was her captain. On her first cruise, in the space of four months, he captured 28 prizes off the English and Irish coasts. Only three of his prizes were retaken, and he brought into port 543 prisoners and 120 cannon. King Louis XVI honoured Guidelou with a sword and a letter of thanks.
On 28 March 1779, Monsieur captured the Scots letter of marque Leveller, off the harbour of Cork. Two days later, five leagues off Cape Clear, Monsieur captured the Polly, sailing for Liverpool. After Polly was ransomed for 1250 guineas, the privateer let her continue her journey. The next day, 1 April, another French privateer fired at Polly, but she was able to take refuge in the port of Skibbereen.
On 14 August 1779 John Paul Jones led a small squadron consisting of Bon Homme Richard, Alliance, Pallas, Vengeance, Cerf, and two privateers, Monsieur and Granville, out of Groa. On 18 August they recaptured the Dutch vessel Verwagting, which an English privateer had captured eight days earlier. She had been carrying brandy and wine from Barcelona to Dunkirk. During the night Monsieur's captain took what he wanted from the prize, and then sent her off to Ostend under his name and with his prize crew. Jones overhauled the prize, put his own prize crew aboard, and sent her off to Lorient under his orders. The next evening Monsieur left Jones's squadron. Granville left either at the same time or soon thereafter.
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Wikipedia