Battle between the French frigate Surveillante and the British frigate Quebec, 6 october 1779. Auguste-Louis Rossel de Cercy |
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| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Surveillante |
| Builder: | Lorient |
| Laid down: | August 1777 |
| Launched: | 26 March 1778 |
| Commissioned: | May 1778 |
| Decommissioned: | January 1797 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Iphigénie-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 620 tonnes |
| Length: | 44.2 metres |
| Beam: | 11.2 metres |
| Draught: | 4.9 metres |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Armament: | 4 × 6-pound long guns |
Surveillante was an Iphigénie-class 32-gun frigate of the French Navy. She took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, where she became famous for her battle with HMS Quebec; in 1783, she brought the news that the war was over to America. She later took part in the French Revolutionary Wars, and was eventually scuttled during the Expédition d'Irlande after sustaining severe damage in a storm. The wreck was found in 1979 and is now a memorial.
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Surveillante was laid down in August 1777 in Lorient as the second frigate of the Iphigénie class, a series of 32-gun frigates carrying 12-pounders designed by Léon Guignace. She was launched on 26 March 1778, and commissioned in May. The very same month, she was refitted as to upgrade her hull with copper sheathing, which was being gradually introduced in the French Navy.
After her refit, Surveillante took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, capturing HMS Spitfire on 19 April 1779.
On 6 October 1779, off Ushant, Surveillante, under captain Couédic de Kergoaler, met with the 32-gun HMS Quebec, under Captain George Farmer. A furious, three-and-a-half-hour-long combat ensued. Both ships suffered heavy casualties and were completely dismasted. The battle ended when Quebec, firing through her own sails which covered her gunports, took fire and exploded. Surveillante, her hull leaking, had 30 killed and 85 wounded. Her boat rescued whatever British crew had survived, and British and French sailors then had to work together to keep her afloat. She returned to Brest the next day, and the British are said to have been treated as castaways rather than prisoners of war.
Numerous paintings and drawings of the battle were made, notably by Auguste-Louis Rossel de Cercy (a key exhibit of the Musée de la Marine in Paris), by George Carter and by Robert Dodd.
On 19 February 1781, Surveillante, along with the 64-gun Éveillé, her sister-ship Gentille and the cutter Guèpe, captured HMS Romulus in Chesapeake Bay.
In summer 1783, along with the British frigate Medea, she sailed to America to announce the Peace of Paris that ended the war between France and Great Britain.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, she took part to the Expédition d'Irlande. Badly damaged in the tempest and not seaworthy enough to return to France, she was scuttled in Bantry bay.
After the 1979 Betelgeuse incident, the wreck of Surveillante was found in 23 metres of water. The wreck is now a memorial, and an 1/6 model of the ship is now on display at Bantry.
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