HMS Surprise (1796)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Career (France) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Unité |
| Builder: | Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, Le Havre |
| Laid down: | August 1793 |
| Launched: | 16 January 1794 |
| Commissioned: | April 1794 |
| Captured: | 20 April 1796 by HMS Inconstant |
| Career (UK) |  |
| Name: | HMS Surprise |
| Operator: | Royal Navy |
| Fate: | Sold at Deptford in February 1802 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Unité class corvette |
| Tons burthen: | 350 tonnes |
| Length: | 38.2 metres |
| Beam: | 9.5 metres |
| Draught: | 4.2 metres |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: | As Unité - 24 × 8-pounder guns 8 × 4-pounders As HMS Surprise - 24 × 8-pounder guns 6 × 12-pounder carronades 10 × 4-pounder guns Later - 24 × 32-pounder carronades 8 × 32-pounder carronades 4 × 6-pounder guns as chasers |
The Unité was a corvette of the French Navy built in 1794, lead ship of her class. She was designed by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, who was in charge of her construction at Le Havre. She armed with 24 eight-pound and 8 four-pound long guns.
She took part in the Third Battle of Ushant by escorting the dismasted Révolutionnaire as she was in tow of the Audacieux.
She was captured by surprise on 20 April 1796 at Annaba by HMS Inconstant, frigate captain Le Drézénec, sick of smallpox, being incapable of directing resistance.
The Unité was rechristened HMS Surprise and re-classed by the British as a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate. She was initially re-armed with 24 eight-pound long guns on her upper deck, plus 4 twelve-pound carronades and 8 four-pound long guns on her quarter deck, and 2 twelve-pound carronades and 2 four-pound long guns on her forecastle. She was later re-armed with 24 32-pound carronades instead of the nine-pounders on her upper deck, and eight more of the same on her quarter deck and forecastle, as well as 4 six-pound long guns as chasers.
She gained fame for the cutting-out expedition in 1799 of HMS Hermione. Hermione's crew had mutinied, and had sailed her into Spanish possession in Puerto Cabello. Captain Edward Hamilton of the Surprise led a boarding party to retake the Hermione and, after an exceptionally bloody action, sailed her out of danger under Spanish gunfire back into British control.
She was sold out of the Service at Deptford in February 1802.
[edit] Surprise in fiction
HMS Surprise is also the ship chosen by author Patrick O'Brian as the ship that would restore Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey of the Aubrey–Maturin series to his place as a captain, and eventually see him raise his flag as an admiral of the Royal Navy. HMS Surprise is an important element of the series, both due to her importance to the running plotline, and because of the emotional attachment she has earned among fans of the series.
For the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the role of HMS Surprise was filled by the replica of HMS Rose, which was purchased by the film studio and modified for the role. The film however shows that Aubrey had served aboard her as a midshipman in 1785, impossible since the real Surprise had not yet been launched. (Note that the book HMS Surprise by O'Brian also mentions Aubrey being a midshipman aboard Surprise, but does not indicate a date for that event - which is still suspect given the chronology of the series.)
[edit] External links
- Travels with the Tall Ship Rose
- HMS Surprise at the San Diego Maritime Museum
- A wealth of research by JoTiKa Ltd for an accurate kit production
[edit] References
- O'Brian, Patrick. HMS Surprise. Chapter 4.
