HMS Topaze (1793)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
|
|
| Name: | Topaze |
| Ordered: | 14 March 1789 |
| Builder: | Toulon |
| Laid down: | August 1789 |
| Launched: | 26 September 1790 |
| Completed: | February 1791 |
| Fate: | Captured by British at Toulon, 29 August 1793 |
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Topaze |
| Acquired: | by capture, 29 August 1793 |
| Commissioned: | August 1795 |
| Decommissioned: | February 1812 |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1814 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Magicienne-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 1,100 tons (French) |
| Tons burthen: | 91682⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in) |
| Depth of hold: | 5.79 m (19 ft 0 in) |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | British service: 280 (274 from 1794) |
| Armament: |
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HMS Topaze was a Royal Navy 32-gun frigate, originally completed in 1791 as a French Magicienne-class frigate. In 1793 Lord Hood's fleet captured her at Toulon. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1814.
In August 1795, Topaze was commissioned under the command of Captain Stephen George Church. She sailed for Halifax in March 1796. On the morning of 28 August Topaze was part of a British squadron that was sitting becalmed about four leagues from Cape Henry when they spotted three strange vessels.Bermuda was the closest to them and signaled that they were enemy frigates. The British were not able to set out in pursuit until midday. Topaze was the first to catch the breeze and outdistanced her companions. She caught up with the laggard after about five and half hours. The French vessel fired a broadside and then surrendered. Assistance and Bermuda then took possession of the prize and accompanied her to Halifax while the rest of the squadron pursued, unsuccessfully, the other two French frigates. When Assistance took possession the French vessel she turned out to be the Elizabeth, of twenty-four 12-pounder and twelve 8-pounder (or 9-pounder) guns, and with a crew of 297 men. The Royal Navy did not purchase Elizabeth. She was an Indiaman, i.e., a merchant vessel, that the French government had bought and apparently was "an indifferent sailer".
In 1800 Topaze captured a few small prizes, one of them being the galliot Louisa, which came into Plymouth on 30 May.Topaze and Heureux sailed for the West Indies on 13 February 1801 as escorts to a large convoy. Church died in August in the West Indies, of a fever. In 1801 she came under the command of Captain Robert Honyman, who had come out to Jamaica on Garland during the summer. Honyman then sailed Topaze back to England, where she served on the Irish station.
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Wikipedia