French frigate Sibylle (1791)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Sibylle and HMS Sybille.

La Sybil, at anchor off Gibraltar, by Anton Schranz
History
France
NameSibylle
NamesakeSybil
BuilderToulon
Laid downApril 1790
Launched30 August 1791[1]
In serviceMay 1792
Captured17 June 1794
Great Britain
NameSybille[2]
Acquired17 June 1794
Decommissioned1833
Honours and
awards		Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Sybille 28 Feby. 1799"[3]
FateSold 7 August 1833
General characteristics
Class and typeHébé-class frigate
Displacement700 tonnes
Length46.3 m (152 ft)
Beam11.9 m (39 ft)
Draught5.5 m (18 ft)
Complement297
Armament
  • French service:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 18-pounder long guns
  • Fc and QD: 8 × 8-pounder long guns
  • British service:
  • 1794:
  • Gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns
  • QD: 12 9-pounder guns
  • Fc: 4 9-pounder guns
  • 1799:
  • Gundeck: 4 × 9-pounder guns and 12 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns and 6 × 32-pounder carronades
  • Later:
  • QD: 8 × 9-pounder guns + 6 × 32-pounder carronades

Sibylle was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy. She was launched in 1791 at the dockyards in Toulon and placed in service in 1792. After the 50-gun fourth rate HMS Romney captured her in 1794, the British took her into service as HMS Sybille.[a] She served in the Royal Navy until disposed of in 1833. While in British service, Sybille participated in three notable single-ship actions, in each case capturing a French vessel. On anti-slavery duties off West Africa from July 1827 to June 1830, Sybille captured many slavers and freed some 3,500 slaves. She was finally sold in 1833 in Portsmouth.

  1. ^ Roche (2005), p. 182.
  2. ^ HMS Sybille Archived 5 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Naval Database
  3. ^ "No. 20939". The London Gazette. 26 January 1849. p. 239.


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