French frigate Alceste (1780)

History
French Navy Ensign French Navy EnsignFrance
NameAlceste
Ordered20 April 1780
BuilderToulon shipyard
Laid downMay 1780
Launched28 October 1780
CommissionedFebruary 1781
Capturedby Britain, 29 August 1793
Kingdom of Sardinia
NameAlceste
Acquired29 August 1793
CapturedBy Boussole on 8 June 1794
French Navy Ensign French Navy EnsignFrance
NameAlceste
Acquired8 June 1794
CapturedBy HMS Bellona, 18 June 1799
Great Britain
NameAlceste
Acquired18 June 1799
FateFloating battery (1801); broken up in May 1802
General characteristics
Class and typeMagicienne-class frigate
Displacement
  • 600 tonnes
  • 5 260 tonnes fully loaded
Tons burthen932 (bm)[1]
Length44.2 m (145 ft 0 in)
Beam11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
Draught5.2 m (17 ft 1 in) (22 French feet)
Complement240 in British service; 96 as a floating battery[1]
Armament26 × 12-pounder long guns + 6 × 6-pounder long guns
ArmourTimber

Alceste was a Magicienne-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1780, that the British seized at the Siege of Toulon. They transferred her to the Kingdom of Sardinia, but the French recaptured her a year later in the action of 8 June 1794. The British captured her again at the action of 18 June 1799 and took her into service as HMS Alceste. In 1801 she became a floating battery and she was sold the next year.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Winfield was invoked but never defined (see the help page).