HMS Vengeance (1800)

HMS Seine captures Vengeance on 20 August 1800, depicted in a print by Thomas Whitcombe
History
French Navy EnsignFrance
NameVengeance
BuilderPaimbœuf
Laid downJune 1793
Launched8 November 1794
CompletedBy April 1795
Captured20 August 1800, by the Royal Navy
Great Britain
NameHMS Vengeance
Acquired20 August 1800
Fate
  • Possibly broken up in 1803
  • May have remained in service until 1814
General characteristics [1]
Class and type48-gun Vengeance-class frigate
Tons burthen1,180 bm
Length
  • 160 ft 6 in (48.9 m) (overall)
  • 134 ft 9 in (41.1 m) (keel)
Beam40 ft 6 in (12.3 m)
Depth of hold13 ft 3+12 in (4.1 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament28 × 18-pounder long guns

HMS Vengeance was originally the 48-gun French Navy frigate Vengeance and lead ship of her class. She engaged USS Constellation during the Quasi-War, in an inconclusive engagement that left both ships heavily damaged. During the French Revolutionary Wars, HMS Seine hunted Vengeance down and captured her after a sharp action. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS Vengeance, but the British apparently never returned her to seagoing service. Accounts are divided as to her eventual fate. She may have been broken up in 1803 after grounding in 1801, or continued as a prison ship until 1814.

  1. ^ Winfield (2008), p. 152.