French ship Musette (1781)

Musette
History
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameMusette
BuilderNantes
Launched1781
Captured21 December 1796
Great Britain
NameMusette
AcquiredBy capture December 1796
FateSold August 1806
General characteristics [1][2]
Displacement460 tons (French)
Tons burthen311 7594 (bm)
Length
  • 102 ft 0+12 in (31.1 m) (overall)
  • 80 ft 9+38 in (24.6 m) (keel)
Beam26 ft 11+14 in (8.2 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 3+34 in (4.1 m)
Complement
  • French service: 148 (150 at capture)
  • British service: 125
Armament
  • French service: 20 × 6-pounder guns + 6 small guns on the poop deck
  • At capture: 22 guns
  • British service: 20 × 24-pounder carronades

Musette (or Muzette) was a merchant ship built at Nantes in 1781. In June 1793 her owners commissioned her there as a 20-gun privateer, but the French Navy requisitioned her in November and classed her as a corvette. In May 1795 the Navy returned her to privateer service. HMS Hazard captured her in December 1796 and the Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Musette. She never went to sea again and the Navy sold her in 1806.