French frigate Calypso (1807)

Calypso was a 40-gun Gloire-class frigate of the French Navy, built after plans designed by Sané revised by Forfait. Under Captain Louis-Léon Jacob, she took part in the Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, where she sustained very severe damage.[1]

History
France
Name: Calypso
Namesake: Calypso
Ordered: 6 April 1803 [1]
Builder: Mathurin, Louis and Antoine Crucy, Lorient[2]
Launched: 8 January 1807 [1]
Commissioned: 5 December 1806 [1]
Out of service: 1810[1]
General characteristics
Class and type: Gloire-class 40-gun frigate
Displacement: 750 tonnes
Propulsion: Sail
Armament:
Armour: Timber

Career

The frigate was ordered on 6 April 1803 in Nantes from the Crucy brothers, but on 14 October, it was ordered that her construction take place in Lorient instead.[1] On 16 September, she took her name of Calypso.[1] On 5 December 1806, she was commissioned under Captain Louis-Léon Jacob.[1]

In 1809, she was attached to a three-frigate squadron under Commodore Jurien de La Gravière, on Italienne, along with Cybèle. Trying to make junction with Willaumez' fleet in Brest, the squadron was intercepted by a British blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford, comprising the ships of the line HMS Caesar, HMS Defiance. and HMS Donegal, the frigate HMS Amelia, and the brig-sloop HMS Doterel. In the ensuing Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, Calypso sustained extensive damage and was driven ashore,[3] but managed to take shelter in Les Sables-d'Olonne harbour.[1]

Unable to effect heavy repairs, Calypso remained stranded in Les Sables-d'Olonne harbour in her battered state,[1] until she was struck from the navy list in January 1813.[2] She was eventually sold for use as a merchantman circa 1814.[2]

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References
  1. Roche, vol. 1, p. 91
  2. Demerliac, p.87, n°620
  3. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (4333). 7 March 1809.
  • Demerliac, Alain (2004). La Marine du Consulat et du Premier Empire: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1800 à 1815 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 2-903179-30-1.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. p. 91. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
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