Bellone at the Battle of Grand Port. |
|
| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Bellone |
| Namesake: | Bellona |
| Ordered: | 14 January 1803 |
| Builder: | Saint Malo (Ethéart company), plans by Sané |
| Laid down: | May 1809 |
| Launched: | 1807 |
| Commissioned: | February 1779 |
| Out of service: | 4 December 1810 |
| Career (UK) | |
| Name: | HMS Junon[1] |
| Acquired: | 4 December 1810 |
| Out of service: | 1817 |
| General characteristics | |
| Armour: | Timber |
The Bellone was an 44-gun frigate of the French Navy.
She departed Saint-Malo on 18 January 1809, bound for the Indian Ocean, under Guy-Victor Duperré.
She sailed from La Réunion for a combat patrol in August 1809. On 2 November 1809, she captured HMS Victor. On 22, she captured the 48-gun Portuguese Minerva after a 2-hour battle. She sailed home with her prize, arriving on 2 January 1810.
In April 1810, the squadron comprising Bellone, Minerve and Victor departed for another patrol, during which they fought the Action of 3 July 1810 and the Battle of Grand Port.
Bellone was surrendered to the British when Île de France fell, on 4 December 1810. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Junon.
In June 1812, HMS Junon escorted a convoy from Portsmouth to India.
In February 1813, her boats captured the 16-gun schooner Lottery, recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Canso. In June, her boats raided the James river, and she sustained attack by US gunboats.
On 3 April 1814, as she sailed with HMS Tenedos, she encountered USS Constitution, who fled at all sail, dropping drinking water and food overboard, and eventually making it to Marblehead harbour.