HMS St Fiorenzo (1794)
HMS St Fiorenzo and Piémontaise
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| History | |
|---|---|
 France
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| Name: | Minerve |
| Builder: | Toulon |
| Laid down: | January 1782 |
| Launched: | 31 July 1782 |
| Completed: | By October 1782 |
| Captured: |
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 UK
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| Name: | HMS St Fiorenzo |
| Acquired: | 19 February 1794 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Broken up in September 1837 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | 38-gun fifth rate |
| Tons burthen: | 1,031 86⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 39 ft 6 in (12.0 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 13 ft 3 in (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Complement: | 274 (British service) |
| Armament: |
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Minerve was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She operated in the Mediterranean during the French Revolutionary Wars. Her crew scuttled her at Saint-Florent to avoid capture when the British invaded Corsica in 1794, but the British managed to raise her and recommissioned her in the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS St Fiorenzo (also San Fiorenzo).
She went on to serve under a number of the most distinguished naval commanders of her age, in theatres ranging from the English Channel to the East Indies. During this time she was active against enemy privateers, and on several occasions she engaged ships larger than herself, being rewarded with victory on each occasion. She captured the 40-gun Résistance and the 22-gun Constance in 1797, the 36-gun Psyché in 1805, and the 40-gun Piémontaise in 1808. (These actions would earn the crew members involved clasps to the Naval General Service Medal.) After she became too old for frigate duties, the Admiralty had her converted for successively less active roles. She initially became a troopship and then a receiving ship. Finally she was broken up in 1837 after a long period as a lazarette.
The French built Minerve at Toulon, laying her down on 10 February 1782 and launching her on 21 July 1782. She was the lead ship of her class.Minerve began her career in the Mediterranean, in particular operating in the Levant campaign from 1790 to 1791. In March 1793 she and Melpomène escorted from Toulon to Algiers two xebecs that the French had outfitted for the Dey. On Minerve’s return to Toulon her commander was arrested following an insurrection on board. On 18 February 1794, her commander scuttled her before the British under Sir David Dundas captured the town of San Fiorenzo (San Fiurenzu or Saint-Florent, Haute-Corse) in the Gulf of St. Florent in Corsica. (Other accounts suggest that gunfire from British shore batteries sank her.) The British found Minerve on 19 February 1794, and were able to refloat her. They then took her into service as a 38-gun frigate under the name St Fiorenzo.
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Wikipedia