French frigate Minerve (1794)

Minerve heading for the open sea at the mouth of the Tagus in 1797, by Thomas Buttersworth
History
French Navy Ensign (1790-1794)France
NameMinerve
BuilderToulon
Laid downJanuary 1792
Launched5 September 1794
Captured23 June 1795 by the Royal Navy
Great Britain
NameMinerve
Acquired23 June 1795
Captured3 July 1803 by the French Navy
French Navy Ensign (1794-1815)France
NameCanonnière
Acquired3 July 1803
Renamed
  • Canonnière in August 1806
  • Confiance in June 1809
Captured3 February 1810 by the Royal Navy
United Kingdom
NameHMS Confiance
Acquired3 February 1810
FateStruck from navy lists by 1814
General characteristics
Class and typeMinerve-class frigate
Tons burthen1,1017994 (bm)[1]
Length48.4 m (158 ft 10 in)
Beam12.2 m (40 ft 0 in)
Draught5.6 m (18 ft 4 in)
Armament
  • As built: 28 × 18-pounder guns + 12 × 8-pounder guns
  • Later:28 × 18-pounder guns + 16 × 32-pounder carronades + 6 × 6-pounder guns

Minerve was a 40-gun Minerve-class frigate of the French Navy. The British captured her twice and the French recaptured her once. She therefore served under four names before being broken up in 1814:

  • Minerve, 1794–1795
  • HMS Minerve, 1795–1803
  • Canonnière, 1803–1810
  • HMS Confiance, 1810–1814
  1. ^ Winfield (2008), p. 160.