HMS Nereide (1797)
Capture of Néréide by HMS Phoebe, on 20 December 1797, Thomas Whitcombe, 1816, in the National Maritime Museum
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| History | |
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.svg){kind=small}   France
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| Name: | Néréide |
| Namesake: | Nereid |
| Builder: | Saint Malo, constructeur: Geoffroy, to plans by Sané |
| Laid down: | October 1778 |
| Launched: | 31 May 1779 |
| Commissioned: | August 1779 |
| Fate: | captured on 20 December 1797 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Nereide |
| Acquired: | 20 December 1797 |
| Honours and awards: |
Naval General Service Medal with clasp "1 May Boat Service 1810" |
| Captured: | 23 August 1810 |
| Fate: | captured |
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France
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| Name: | Néréide |
| Acquired: | 23 August 1810 by capture |
| Captured: | 3 December 1810 |
| Fate: | Sold 1 March 1816 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sybille-class |
| Displacement: | 1,100 tons (French) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 11.21 m (36.8 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.36 m (17.6 ft) (laden) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: |
French service:290 British service:254 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | Timber |
French service:290
Néréide was a Sybille class 32-gun, copper-hulled, frigate of the French Navy. On 22 December 1797 Phoebe captured her and she was taken into British service as HMS Nereide. The French recaptured her at the Battle of Grand Port, only to lose her again when the British took Isle de France (now Mauritius), in 1810. After the Battle of Grand Port she was in such a poor condition that she was laid up and sold for breaking up in 1816.
On 6 June 1780, along with Zodiaque (74 guns), she captured a British privateer, the 10-gun cutter Prince of Wales off Madeira. She was part of the fleet of Lamotte-Picquet that sailed from Brest and on 2 May 1781 captured 18 ships in a convoy from Sint Eustatius. In 1782 she served in the Caribbean under Vaudreuil.
From 1788, she served off Africa. She then underwent a refit in Rochefort in October 1794.
On 20 December 1797 she was sailing off the Isles of Scilly under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Chassériau when she encountered Phoebe. After exchanging broadsides with Phoebe for about an hour and a half, Néréide struck. She had suffered 20 killed and 55 wounded; Phoebe had suffered three men killed and 10 wounded. Although the French vessel had a larger crew, she had a substantially lighter broadside (12-pdrs versus 18-pdrs) and this proved decisive. She entered into British service as HMS Nereide.
In the morning of 1 March 1800, Nereide saw five sail and made towards them. They were five well-armed French privateers, but they scattered as she approached. Nereide lost sight of them until the next morning when she re-encountered one. After a pursuit of 12 hours and 123 miles, Nereide captured the French privateer Vengeance, pierced for 18 guns but carrying sixteen 12-pounders and 174 men. Vengeance had left Bordeaux on 26 February and then had joined Bellona (twenty-four 12-pounder guns, six 36-pounder carronades, and 420 men), Favorite (sixteen 8-pounder guns and 120 men), Huron (sixteen 6-pounder guns and 187 men), and the schooner Terrailluse (fourteen 6-pounder guns and 80 men).
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Wikipedia