A Magicienne class frigate |
|
| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Alceste |
| Ordered: | 20 April 1780 |
| Builder: | Toulon shipyard |
| Laid down: | May 1780 |
| Launched: | 28 October 1780 |
| Commissioned: | February 1781 |
| Captured: | by Britain, 29 August 1793 |
| Career (Kingdom of Sardinia) | |
| Name: | Alceste |
| Acquired: | 29 August 1793 |
| Captured: | By the Boussole on 10 June 1794 |
| Career (France) | |
| Name: | Alceste |
| Acquired: | 10 June 1794 |
| Captured: | HMS Bellona, 18 June 1799 |
| Career (UK) | |
| Name: | HMS Alceste |
| Acquired: | 18 June 1799 |
| Fate: | Floating battery and 1801, broken up in May 1802 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Magicienne class frigate |
| Displacement: |
600 tonnes |
| Length: | 44.2 metres |
| Beam: | 11.2 metres |
| Draught: | 5.2 metres (22 French feet) |
| Armament: |
32 guns: |
| Armour: | Timber |
The Alceste was a Magicienne class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1780, seized by the British at the Siege of Toulon and transefered to the Kingdom of Sardinia, retaken by the French a year later, and eventually captured by the Royal Navy at the Action of 18 June 1799.
At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Alceste served in the Mediterranean, until she was put in the reserved and disarmed in Toulon. The royalist insurrection found her there, and she was seized by the British and transferred to the Kingdom of Sardinia before the conclusion of the Siege of Toulon.
On 10 June 1794, she was retaken by the 32-gun Boussole, and brought back into French service. Under Captain Le Joille, she was part of Admiral Martin's squadron, where she took part in the capture of HMS Berwick in 1795.
In March 1796, she ferried Jean-Baptiste Annibal Aubert du Bayet to his appointment as ambassador to Constantinople, along with military advisors.
From November 1796 to January 1797, Alceste patrolled the coasts of Italy under Captain Jean-François-Timothée Trullet.
She took part in the Expédition d'Égypte, ferrying General Jean Reynier, and was later appointed to a squadron under Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée, which also comprised Junon, Courageuse, Salamine and Alerte. In the Action of 18 June 1799, Perrée's squadron met with a 30-ship fleet under Lord Keith and struck their colours. The surrender of Alceste was secured by HMS Bellona, and she was brought into British service as HMS Alceste.
In 1801 HMSAlceste became a floating battery. She was eventually sold for scrap in May 1802.