French corvette Brune (1781)

Brune was a Coquette class 20-gun corvette of the French Navy, launched in 1781 and captured in 1799 at the siege of Corfu, which saw a joint Russian and Turkish fleet capture Corfu from an occupying French force.

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Brune.
History
France
Name: Brune
Namesake: Brune river
Builder: Le Havre, plans by Jean-Joseph Ginoux[1]
Laid down: August 1754[1]
Launched: 20 January 1781[1]
In service: March 1781[1]
Captured: by Russia, 3 March 1799[1]
Ottoman Empire
Name: ?
General characteristics
Class and type: Coquette-class[1]
Displacement: 400 tonnes
Length: 38.7 metres
Beam: 9.9 metres
Draught: 4.9 metres
Armament: 18 x 8-pounder long guns + 8 x 4-pounder long guns[1]
Armour: Timber

Career

On 15 November 1794, Minerve, in company with Alceste and Brune, under Ensign Deniéport sailed for a diplomatic mission to Tunis before returning to Toulon on 29 December.[2] Brune was present at the action of 8 March 1795, and near the subsequent battle of Hyères Islands:[1] in mid-July, Brune and the frigate Vestale, under Commander Delorme,[3] escorted a 25-ship wheat convoy from Genoa to France, when three enemy frigates gave chase; Brune, which was a very bad sailor, had to take refugee at La Spezia, while Vestale managed to keep the frigates at bay and defend the convoy.[4] After Deniéport was promoted to Lieutenant and Commander, she continued to escort convoys in the Adriatic Sea.[1]

On 26 March 1797, Brune departed Ancona in a division led by Commander Sibille, of the eight-gun Bonaparte. The other vessels were the lugger Libérateur d'Italie (under Laugier), the xebec Corse (under Muron), and two transports loaded with ammunition.[5]

By 1798, Brune was at Corfu. During the siege she slipped by the Russian ships and into Corfu to inform General Chabot that reinforcements were coming from Ancona. The reinforcements did leave on 8 December, but only reached Corfu's north coast in early January. They then left when they were unable to establish contact with Chabot.[6]

On 28 February 1799, the Russians and Ottomans attacked Vido, which is a small island (less than kilometer in diameter) at the mouth of the port of Corfu. After a four-hour bombardment by several ships, the attackers had succeeded in suppressing all five shore batteries on the island. Leander and Brune tried to intervene but were damaged and forced to retreat to the protection of the batteries of Corfu.[7]

On 3 March 1799, the Russians captured Brune. At the end of the siege the victors divided up the spoils, and the Russians gave her to the Ottomans.[1][8][9][10]

Notes and references

Notes

    References
    1. Roche, vol.1, p.88
    2. Fonds Marine, p.81
    3. Roche, p.461
    4. Guérin, vol.6, p.511
    5. Troude, vol.3, p.64
    6. Şukul (2009), p.135.
    7. Şukul (2009), pp.160-1.
    8. Şukul (2009), p.165.
    9. "No. 15149". The London Gazette. 18 June 1799. p. 614.
    10. Naval Chronicle, Vol. 2, p.377.

    Bibliography
    • Guérin, Léon (1857). Histoire maritime de France (in French). 6. Dufour et Mulat. p. 78.
    • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 88. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
    • Şukul, Kahraman (2009) An Ottoman Global Moment: War of Second Coalition in the Levant. (Georgetown Univ.: Unpublished PhD dissertation).
    • Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). 3. Challamel ainé.
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