Charmante-class frigate

HMS Unite - Ship plan 1796
Class overview
NameCharmante
BuildersBrest, Saint-Malo, Nantes
Operators
In service1778 (Charmante) - 1796 (Grâcieuse)
Completed5[1]
General characteristics [2]
Typefrigate
Tonnage540 tonnes
Length44.2 metres
Beam11.2 metres
Draught5.4 metres
PropulsionSail
Armament
ArmourTimber

The Charmante class was a group of five 32-gun/12-pounder frigates of the French Navy, built during the late 1770s at Brest (lead ship) Nantes (2 ships) and Saint Malo (2 ships). They were designed by Jean-Denis Chevillard. Of the five ships, two were wrecked, two were captured by the British, and one by the Spanish.

Builder: Brest
Ordered:
Laid down: April 1777
Launched: 30 August 1777
Completed: January 1778
Fate: Wrecked on the Chaussée de Sein on 24 March 1780
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Laid down: September 1777
Launched: March 1778
Completed: May 1778
Fate: Wrecked by the Great Hurricane of 1780 off Saint Vincent on 11 October 1780
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Laid down: November 1785
Launched: 18 May 1787
Completed: May 1788
Fate: Renamed Unité on 28 September 1793. Capturd by the British on 11 April 1796, recomissionned as HMS Unite, sold in 1802
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Laid down: January 1789
Launched: 9 September 1790
Completed: February 1791
Fate: Captured by HMS Penelope and Iphigenia on 25 November 1793 off Saint Domingue and recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Convert
Builder: Rochefort
Ordered:
Laid down: 1789
Launched: 18 May 1791
Completed: June 1792
Fate: Captured by the Spanish on 19 February 1793 during the French expedition to Sardinia and recommissioned in the Spanish Navy as Sirena
  1. ^ Roche, p.496
  2. ^ a b Roche, p.111
  3. ^ Roche, p.269
  4. ^ Roche, p.229-230
  5. ^ Roche, p.254
  6. ^ Roche, p.239