Detail of Combat de Grand Port, by Pierre Julien Gilbert, Musée national de la marine. Victor (ex-Revenant) can be seen in the background. |
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| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Revenant |
| Namesake: | Revenant (French: "ghost") |
| Builder: | St Malo |
| Launched: | 1807 |
| Renamed: | Iéna |
| Fate: | captured on 8 October 1808 |
| Career (UK) | |
| Name: | HMS Victor |
| Acquired: | 8 October 1808 |
| Captured: | 2 November 1809 |
| Fate: | captured |
| Career (France) | |
| Name: | Revenant |
| Acquired: | 2 November 1809 |
| Captured: | 3 December 1810 |
| Fate: | Broken up |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Corvette |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Armament: |
18 guns: |
Revenant (French: "ghost") was a 20-gun privateer corvette designed by Robert Surcouf for commerce raiding. She was later requisitioned for service in the French Navy, and was renamed Iéna, but was subsequently captured by and served in the Royal Navy as HMS Victor. She was recaptured by the French Navy in 1809, served for a year under her original name, and then fell into British hands again when Île de France fell in December 1810. She was not restored to service and was subsequently broken up.
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Revenant was built in France in 1807. Her coppered hull allowed her to sail at up to 12 knots. She was armed with fourteen 32-pounder carronades and six 8-pounder guns.
Revenant arrived at Île de France (now Mauritius) on 10 June 1807, along with several prizes taken during her journey. She cruised the Bay of Bengal from September 1807 to 31 January 1808 under Surcouf, capturing the rice ships Trafalgar, Mangles, Admiral Alpin, Susannah Hunter, Success, Fortune, New Endeavour, Colonel Macauley, William Burroughs, Oriente and Jean Labdam. Command of Revenant then passed to Joseph Potier, who led her in two cruises to capture about 20 ships, including the 34-gun Portuguese Conceçao.
Decaen, governor of Île de France, then requisitioned Revenant for the defence of the island, renaming her Iéna. She was captained by Lieutenant Morice, with Lieutenant de vaisseau Albin Roussin as second officer.
Iéna set sail to cruise the Persian Gulf and Bay of Bengal. On 8 October 1808, off the Sandheads of Bengal river, she was chased by the 44-gun HMS Modeste, under Captain George Elliot,[1] which caught the Iéna after 9 hours. A night battle followed at musket range; after two and a half hours, Iéna was crippled, dismasted and leaking water, and struck her colours.[2] Iéna had no casualties, while Modeste had her master killed and a seaman wounded. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as the 18-gun ship sloop HMS Victor, initially under Commander Thomas Grout and subsequently under Captain Edward Stopford.[3]
On 2 May 1809, she departed from the Sandheads of Bengal river with a convoy of five Indiamen and several smaller vessels. On 24 May a storm split the convoy and Victor, the small ships and two of the Indiamen continued without Streatham, Europe and Lord Keith. Streatham and Europe were captured on 31 May.
On 2 November 1809, the 44-gun frigate Bellone under Guy-Victor Duperré captured Victor. She resumed her original name of Revenant and was taken to Île de France, where the French squadron encountered a British frigate squadron attempting to seize the island. In the ensuing Battle of Grand Port, Revenant was used as a support ship, behind the French line of battle, as her armament was weaker than that of the more powerful frigates.
On 17-18 September 1810, along with Vénus, she captured the 40-gun HMS Ceylon. Vénus and Ceylon were damaged in the battle, and the next day were captured by a British squadron composed of HMS Boadicea, HMS Otter and the brig HMS Staunch. Revenant managed to escape.
Revenant was again taken by the British when the island fell on 3 December 1810, but not restored to service again. She was subsequently broken up.