All at Sea - French Frigates and a Brig, 3D Prints from Turner Miniatures and Only Games.

Whilst all the planning and preparations for Camperdown have been going on, work has continued in JJ's shipyard with two French frigates and a brig from Turner Miniatures and Only Games being rigged and fitted out in readiness for some of my single-ship/small squadron encounters.

From left to right, the 16-gun Vigilant Class brig, and the two frigates, 32-gun Magicienne and Unité Class (frigate/corvette).

The models in question are the 32-gun Magicienne and Unité Class (corvette) French frigate together with a 16-gun Vigilant Class Brig, the two frigates available in their British fit out as repurposed captured models, but here depicted in their French fit out specifically to work as  smaller French frigate options typical of the earlier encounters in the French Revolutionary War before the larger 38/40 gunners began to dominate.

Magicienne 32/36-gun Fifth-Rate.

The Magicienne class was a class of twelve fifth rate 32-gun frigates of the French Navy, each with a main battery of 26×12-pounder long guns, and with 6×6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, and were designed by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb.

1:48 Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Magicienne (1781), a captured French Frigate, as taken off prior to fitting as a 32-gun Fifth Rate Frigate at Chatham Dockyard - RMG

Magicienne, the lead ship of her class was captured in 1781 and served with the Royal Navy until her crew burned her in 1810 to prevent her capture after she grounded at Isle de France (now Mauritius). During her service with the Royal Navy she captured several privateers and participated in the Battle of San Domingo.

Her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 578 73/94 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 143 feet, 9 inches

Beam 39 feet, 3 inches

Draught 12 feet, 5 inches

The Battle of Grand Port, 23rd August 1810, and the scuttling of HMS Magicienne - Pierre-Julien Gilbert.

Her armament consisted of:

Upper Gundeck: 26 x 12-pounder long guns.

Quarterdeck and Forecastle, (QD) 4 x 6-pounder long guns and (Fc) 2 x 6-pounder long guns.

A classic frigate action that featured a Magicienne Class frigate was that fought on the 20th October 1793 near Cherbourg in the English Channel, between the British 36-gun Flora class frigate Crescent commanded by Captain James Saumarez with several men aboard from my home town of Exmouth and La Réunion of 36-guns.

La Réunion in action with HMS Crescent, 20th October 1793 - Derek Gardner.

La Réunion was built at Toulon between February 1785 and January 1787, and launched on the 23rd February 1786.

France declared war on Britain on the 1st of February 1793 and began to focus heavily on the disruption of British commerce through the deployment of frigates on raiding operations against British commercial shipping in the English Channel.

La Réunion versus HMS Crescent, 20th October 1793.

Two of the most successful raiders were the frigates Réunion and Sémillante, both then based in Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula, with these frigates making short cruises, leaving Cherbourg in the early evening and returning in the morning with any prizes they had encountered during the night.

The British response to the French raids was to attempt a blockade of the French coast, and to that end, despatched a number of vessels including the 36-gun frigate HMS Crescent, under Captain James Saumarez. 

On the morning of 20th October, Réunion, under the command of Captain François Dénian, and a 14-gun cutter, the Espérance, were returning from a cruise when they were spotted by Crescent. A second British frigate, the 28-gun HMS Circe, was becalmed some nine nautical miles away and Espérance fled towards Cherbourg, leaving Réunion to engage Crescent alone. Although Réunion was bigger, 951 long tons compared to 888 long tons, and carried a larger crew, Crescent had a slight advantage in weight of shot, 315 pounds to 310 pounds and was marginally faster.

William James recounts the action;

'Just as the day dawned the Crescent, standing on the larboard tack, with the wind off shore, descried a ship and a large cutter coming in from the seaward: she immediately edged away for the two strangers, and, in a little while, ranged up on the larboard and weather side of the ship, which was the French 36-gun frigate Réunion, Captain François A. Dénian.

A close and spirited action now ensued, in the early part of which the Crescent lost her foretopsail yard, and soon afterwards her fore topmast; but, putting her helm hard a-starboard, she came suddenly round on the opposite tack, and brought her larboard guns to bear. The Réunion, by this time, had lost her fore yard and mizen topmast, and became exposed, in consequence, to several raking fires from the Crescent. 

Capture of French frigate La Reunion by Royal Navy Flora-class frigate HMS Crescent off the Normandy Cotentin Peninsula (Cherbourg Peninsula), in 1793, painted by Charles Edward Dixon.

After a brave resistance of two hours and ten minutes, by which time she was utterly defenceless, the Réunion struck her colours; a measure the more imperative, as the British 28-gun frigate Circe, Captain Joseph Sydney Yorke, which, during the greater part of the action, had laid becalmed about three leagues off, striving her utmost to get up, was now approaching. The cutter, which was believed to be the Espérance, mounting 12 or 14 guns, had made off as soon as the firing commenced, and escaped into Cherbourg.

The capture of the French frigate Reunion by HMS Crescent, Captain J. Sumarez, 20 October 1793 - Robert Dodd.

Both ships were a good deal damaged in their sails and rigging; and the Réunion, besides losing her fore yard, mizen topmast, and main topgallantmast, had several shots in her lower masts, and a still greater number in her hull. Almost the only shot that entered the Crescent's hull struck the apron, and set fire to the priming, of the forecastle 9-pounder on the opposite, or unengaged side; which, going off, discharged its contents in the direction of some gun-boats coming out of Cherbourg.

The Crescent's maindeck armament was that of her class, and her quarterdeck and forecastle guns were not, as we formerly stated, 14, but eight, carronades, 18-pounders, and two long 9-pounders, total 36 guns. Out of her 257 men and boys in crew, the Crescent had not a man hurt by the enemy's shot; but, in the very, first broadside, one of her seamen had his leg broken by the recoil of the gun he was fighting.

The Réunion, in her long guns, was armed the same as the Embuscade,* except in having eight instead of ten 6-pounders: she also had six brass 36-pounder carronades; making the total of her guns 40. The complement of the Réunion, according to the British official account, amounted to 320 men; but the number deposed to by the French officers, to entitle the captors to head-money, was 300. * Of these the French frigate, according to the letter of Captain Saumarez, lost 120 in killed and wounded; but, by another account, the loss on board the Réunion consisted of 33 officers, seamen, and marines killed, and 48 severely wounded.

Neither the Réunion's six heavy carronades, nor the Crescent's eight light ones, were very efficient pieces: hence the difference in the maindeck guns of the two frigates gave a decided advantage to the Crescent. Under all the circumstances, therefore, it must be owned that, if the officers and men of the Réunion lacked skill, they were by no means deficient in courage. Many persons on the French shore witnessed the combat; and the Réunion's concert in Cherbourg, believed to have been the Sémillante, made an attempt to go out to her assistance; but a contrary tide and the failure of wind, aided perhaps by the knowledge that a second enemy's frigate was in the offing, detained her in port.

As a reward for his services on this occasion, Captain Saumarez, soon after his arrival at Portsmouth, received the honour of knighthood; and, as a further proof how highly, the Crescent's performance was rated, Sir James was presented by the city of London with a handsome piece of plate. In addition to the reward bestowed upon Captain Saumarez, the Crescent's first lieutenant, George Parker, as he justly merited, was promoted to the rank of commander. The second and third lieutenants present in the action were Charles Otter and Peter Rye. The Réunion was purchased by the British government, and added to the navy, under the same name as a cruising 12-pounder 36-gun frigate.'

Unité 32-gun Fifth/Sixth-Rate.

Unité was the name ship for a class of corvette designed by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, and although the French initially rated Unité as a corvette, the ships of her class bridged a gap between smaller warships and frigates, and at various times were rated as frigates.

Pierre-Alexandre Forfait - musée du Louvre département des Arts graphiques.

Unité was built and later launched on the 16th January 1794 in Le Harvre and on the 20th March 1794, lieutenant de vaisseau Jean le Drézénec, who was 41 years old and had entered the naval service soon after the revolution from a career in the merchant service, arrived to take command of her. 

Her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 578 73/94 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 126 feet

Beam 31 feet, 8 inches

Draught 10 feet 

Unité - 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche on stern counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Unite (1796), a captured French Frigate, as taken off at Plymouth Dockyard prior to fitting as a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate - (RMG)

Her armament consisted of:

Upper Gundeck: 24 x 8-pounder long guns.

Quarterdeck and Forecastle, 8 x 4-pounder long guns.

He supervised the fitting out of the ship, and found the long guns were too large to be easily reloaded, and the lower sails were also too large, notifying the authorities, who urged him to finish fitting out the ship because a major naval operation was imminent. 

The Glorious First of June - Derek Gardner
Unité was part of the French fleet that sortied into the Atlantic in May-June 1794.

Soon afterwards, Unité took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June by escorting the dismasted Révolutionnaire as she was towed by the Audacieux.

In June 1794 Unité completed repairs in Saint-Malo and Brest to damage she had sustained in the battle, and in the following months she escorted merchant vessels along the coasts of France. 

On the 28th September, with the corvette Bergere and under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Gouley, the two ships left Brest to sail northwest in between Ireland and the islands of the Hebrides and St Kilda to intercept enemy merchant ships. On the 17th October, the ships captured a 200-ton merchant ship Dianne, however the next day the weather turned foul and the two ships were separated. Unwilling or unable to continue the mission alone, Unité searched for Bergere fruitlessly for sixteen days before finally returning to Brest on the 1st of November.

Unité was ordered to join the Mediterranean fleet at Toulon, and arrived there in March 1795, spending the remainder of the year either blockaded in port or serving as a courier. In April 1796, she was ordered on one such courier mission to North Africa to deliver personnel and messages to the port of Bône. At the time, Le Drézénec, who had been recently promoted to capitaine de frégate, was suffering from smallpox and was incapacitated, consequently, her first lieutenant, Lieutenant Le Breton, commanded Unité.

The engagement between H.M.S. Phoenix and the French Frigate Didon, 10 August 1805, by Thomas Luny - Ashmolean Museum.

Phoenix was a 36-gun Perseverance class frigate and a sister ship to the Inconstant that captured Unité.

Captain Thomas Fremantle in command of the frigate HMS Inconstant had heard there was a French frigate in Bône, and sailed to intercept her. When Unité arrived in the afternoon of 20th April 1796, the watch aboard Unité identified Inconstant as a neutral vessel and Le Breton did not clear the ship for action, which meant that about an hour later, Inconstant was able to sail alongside, board and capture Unité intact.

Captain Thomas Fremantle.

Fremantle made the following report about the capture

Admiralty-Office, May 28, 1796.

Copy of a letter from Captain Thomas Fremantle, of His Majesty's Ship Inconstant, to Evan Nepean, Esq; dated off Bastia, April 27, 1796
SIR, I have the honour of inclosing, for the information of their Lordships, the copy of a letter from me to Sir John Jervis, Knight of the Bath.

I am, &c. &c. THO. F. FREMANTLE.
lnconstant, at Sea, April 23, 1796.

SIR, I Have the honour to inform you, that on the 19th, cruizing near Tunis, 1 received an account that a French Frigate had been seen off Cape Mabera, near Bon; I therefore made sail for that place and on the evening of the 20th, perceived a ship under French Colours at anchor on the coast, which I came to, by, and directed to strike; this was prudently compiled with: She is called L'Unite, a Corvette of 34 gun and 218 men. The crew had made an attempt to set her on fire, but by the exertions of Lieutenant Hutchinson it was soon extinguished: Had the ship been of equal Force with the Inconstant, I have every Reason to believe it would have afforded me a further proof of the spirit and steadiness of every officer and person on board the ship 1 command,

I am, &C. Sec.
THO. FRA. FREMANTLE

About a year after capture, Unité was renamed HMS Surprise because another French ship also named Unité a 32-gun Charmante class frigate had already been taken into the navy after its capture by HMS Revolutionnaire on the 13th April 1796. 

Surprise was re-classed by the British as a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate, though she carried twenty-four 32 pound carronades on her main deck, eight 32-pounders on her quarter and foredecks and two (or four) long 6-pounders as chasers. 

As in the French Navy, this led to difficulty in her rating, considered a fifth rate from 1797-98 but a sixth rate the rest of her commission. Also, she bore the main-mast of a 36 gun ship, just as unusual as her large armament.

Under Captain Edward Hamilton, the Surprise sailed in the Caribbean for several years, capturing several privateers. HMS Surprise gained fame for the cutting-out expedition in 1799 of HMS Hermione. Hermione's crew had mutinied, and had sailed her into the Spanish possession of Puerto Cabello. Captain Edward Hamilton of Surprise led a boarding party to retake Hermione and, after an exceptionally bloody action, sailed her out of danger under Spanish gunfire. The Spanish casualties included 119 dead; 231 were taken prisoner, while another 15 jumped or fell overboard. Hamilton had 11 injured, four seriously, but none killed.

Although her career was most notable in itself, HMS Surprise was made legendary as the favourite ship of Captain Jack Aubrey in the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series of novels.

Vigilant Class 16-gun Brig.

The Vigilant class 16-gun brig was another design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, all built by Entreprise Thibaudier at Le Havre, for whom the Le Havre shipbuilder Jean Fouache acted as constructor until his death on the 25th May 1800.

The British Brig-Sloop Suffisante chasing down the French Brig-Corvette Revanche 27th May 1796 - Derek Gardner.

My new Vigilant class French brig will come in handy for refighting Suffisante versus the French privateer brig Revanche of 14-guns and of a similar size.

Including the Vigilant, launched 20th July 1800, that gave her name to the class, there were an additional five vessels, Surveillant, launched 4th August 1800, Argus, launched 20th July 1800, Observateur,  launched 20th July 1800, Bélier, launched 22nd July 1800 and Diligent, launched 25th June 1800.

Vigilant's general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 373 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 86 feet

Beam 26 feet

Draught 10 feet, 2 inches

Her armament consisted of:

Gundeck: 16 x 4-pounder long guns as designed.*

*Some of the class were later adapted to 16 x 6 pounder long guns (Observateur & Bélier 1803), 6-pdrs plus an additional 2 x36pdr Obusiers (French carronade) (Surveillant 1805), 14 x 8-pounder long guns (Argus 1805), 14 x 4-pdrs and 4 x 12-pdr British carronades (Observateur 1805).

Argus was designated No. 3 in 1799, of the six-vessel class, and though launched in 1800 was not commissioned until 1802.

She was at the battle of Trafalgar, but did not engage in combat, and on the 23rd of October 1805, French Captain Julien Cosmao made a sortie from Cadiz with some of the more seaworthy ships that had escaped the battle, in an attempt to retake some of the captured prizes. Argus was among the sortieing vessels, however the storm that came up wrecked many vessels and forced the remains of the French fleet back to Cadiz, where the Spanish seized a number of them after Spain entered the war against France in 1808. However, Argus was not among the seized vessels.

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805 - Nicholas Pocock.
In this view of the opening stage of the battle as Nelson's HMS Victory breaks the Allied line and Collingwood's HMS Royal Sovereign is already in action in the background, the frigate Cornelie leads the Allied light ships, extreme left, followed by brig Furet, frigate Hortense and further back, extreme left frigate Rhin and the brig Argus.

Argus left Cayenne, French Guiana on the 15th March 1806, provisioned for a cruise of four months and in company with her sister, French brig Observateur. Argus was eager to escape the British blockade and abandoned Observateur, which, however, was able to hold off her attacker, but was later captured by the British on the 9th June 1806, off Bermuda by the 32-gun frigate Tartar.

The 1799 Clement-Cruttwell Map of South America showing Cayenne where Argus and Observateur based themselves in 1806 to raid British merchant trade.

In late 1806, Argus, of sixteen 9-pounder guns and 120 men, and a schooner of two 18-pounder guns and 30 men, encountered HMS Express a schooner rigged advice-boat armed with four 18-pounder and six 12-pounder carronades together with two 4-pounder long guns. The encounter was inconclusive as the French broke off the action and sailed away. Express had three men wounded, and she had exhausted all her 18-pounder shot. The governor of Martinique, Admiral Villaret Joyeuse, reportedly cashiered Argus's captain for his failure to capture Express.

Argus fought off Cayenne on the 27th January 1807 at the side of Favourite. The British report from the engagement states that Argus was armed with fourteen brass 8-pounder guns, which were the equivalent of English 9-pounders, and had a crew of 120 men.

William James had this to say about the action;

On the 27th of January, at daylight, Soramine river on the coast of Guayana bearing south by east distant 26 miles, the British 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Jason, Captain Thomas Cochrane, descried and chased a ship and brig, evidently cruisers, about six miles upon her weather beam. 

At 1.0 h. 15 m. A.M. the Jason brought the ship to action, and presently compelled her to haul down her colours. The prize proved to be the late British sloop of war Favourite, mounting 16 long 6-pounders and two 12-pounder carronades on the main deck, and eleven 12-pounder carronades on the quarterdeck and forecastle; total, 29 guns, all English caliber, with a complement of 150 men, commanded by Lieutenant de vaisseau Gabriel-Etienne-Louis Le Marant-Kerdaniel. The brig in her company, when first chased, was a corvette of 14 brass 8-pounders and 120 men.'

With this small model brig, I opted to use the smallest 3D print anchors from Turner Miniatures, seen here in the close up and fitting perfectly for this little brig.

Argus was condemned and ordered broken up at Cayenne on 31st March 1807, and was decommissioned on the 21st April and broken up.

The Models.

These 3D hull prints work really well with the Warlord masts, boats and other items, whilst really capturing the unique look of the vessels they represent, and the small actions outlined here in the post show how they will really bring those little fights to life on the table, with similarly turned out opponents.

A view of the action on 18th June 1793 off Start Point, Devon in which the British frigate Nymphe, Captain Edward Pellew (1793-8), took the French frigate Cléopâtre. French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802): War of the First Coalition (1792-8). Robert Dodd.
A close up of the Cléopâtre with the republican colours just visible at the stern taken from a larger view depicting the scene just before action was joined, for which my early war Magicienne will make an ideal stand in.

Needless to say, although representing specific types and classes these models will also stand in nicely for other similar French types, hence my interpretation of Magicienne with her early model French naval ensign coming to the rescue when I need a French 32-gun frigate of the period, such as Captain Jean Mullon's Venus Class 32-gun frigate, Cléopâtre at the Action off Start Point 18th June 1793.

In addition I will in time do other versions of these same models for multiple French 32-gun frigate options and 16-gun brigs needed for other actions from the period and I'm really pleased with the variety of look they offer with for example the Magicienne modelled in three options, standard French model, the refurbished British model and the Topaze option of sister ships ordered and built as a second group of additional ships, plus available with open and closed gunports.

Similarly, the Unité model is available as standard but also depicted as the refurbished version fitted out for HMS Surprise as mentioned above and looking quite different from her French origins.

In the next series of 3D prints I intend to turn my attention to the War of 1812 and the British large frigates together with two of the American super-frigates, before focussing on the smaller British types and some Spanish options, so lots to get stuck into in the next few months whilst playing with the Camperdown collection and prior to turning towards my next big project from the period.

As I say, more anon.

JJ

All at Sea - HM Cutter Entreprenante, 3-D Print from Turner Miniatures & Only Games.

The Royal Navy armed cutter Entreprenante shadowing the remnants of the Franco-Spanish fleet as it runs into Cadiz after the disastrous defeat at Trafalgar - Thomas Butterworth.

It was back in April 2021 when I was concluding work on building the opposing fleets for Trafalgar using the Warlord range of 1:700 models, that I focused on completing the small ships for the opposing sides and Entreprenante was of course included, see link below.

JJ's Wargames - All at Sea, Small Ships at Trafalgar

With work going on to complete my Camperdown collection in a similar way, I recently constructed the four hired cutters for the British fleet and used the three unbuilt models I had in stock together with the one seen above, used to represent Entreprenante in her first incarnation.

Entreprenante mark-one brings up the rear of the Inshore Squadron at Trafalgar 2023 played with the DWG and Penarth club.
JJ's Wargames - Trafalgar 2023

Thus I was in need of another model to complete my British Trafalgar collection, for the next time it takes to the table, likely next year in time for the two-hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the battle and thus I turned to a more exact recreation of this famous little ship, the smallest to participate at Trafalgar and beautifully replicated by Henry Turner, and so I have put this specific showcase together to look at the model and the history in a bit more detail than in my original post.

His Majesty's Armed Cutter Entreprenante is listed as being captured from the French in 1798 and may have been a privateer from Socoa, or possibly nearby Saint-Jean-de-Luz, on the Franco-Spanish Pyrenean border, and under the command of Ensign Dominique Délouart, of Bayonne, although there are no records indicating where or by whom she was taken.

My brand-spanking new, more accurate representation of HMAC Entreprenant, courtesy of Turner Miniatures and Only Games.

In design she probably differed little from the standard British cutters of the period, and her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 126 59/94 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 67 feet

Beam 21 feet, 6 inches

Draught 11 feet

Scale 1:32. A full hull model of a 10-gun cutter (circa 1800 - RMG).

Her armament consisted of:

Gundeck: Originally 10 x 4-pounder long guns, from December 1803: 10 × 12-pounder carronades

Map illustrating Genoa where Entreprenante together with a British naval squadron that consisted of HMS Minotaur, Phoenix, and Mondovi (an ex Venetian/French brig 14-guns) operated in support of the Austrian siege 19th April - 4th June 1800

Purchased for the Navy in November 1798 and registered in the 10th January 1799 Entreprenante was commissioned in February 1799 under Lieutenant Charles Claridge and by April 1800 was under the command of Lieutenant William Swiney in the Mediterranean, part of Admiral Lord Keith's fleet, supporting the Austrian siege of Genoa, and having previously shared in the capture of the Madona del Grazie, sent into Leghorn on the 3rd of March 1800, while in company with the Phaeton 38-guns and Minotaur 74-guns.

Bombardment of the city of Genoa by the English on the night of 20 May 1800
by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti.

She continued a profitable period of cruising off the city, capturing a Genoese vessel from Capraia bound for Genoa with a cargo of corn on the 29th March, shared in the proceeds of the capture of the St. Rosalia on the 14th April, in company with Pheaton and the ship-sloop Peterel 16-guns, and again shared in the proceeds from the capture of the Proteus off Genoa on the 28th April.

In 1801, Entreprenante was deployed with the rest of the fleet off Egypt, bringing dispatches to Jaffa on the 21st January and then participating in the the landing of troops in Aboukir Bay protecting the left flank during assisted by the schooner Malta, the gun-vessel Negresse, the schooner Cruelle the cutter Janissary and the gun-vessel Dangereuse; with the crews involved eligible for the clasp 'Egypt' to their Naval General Service medals.

The landing of British troops at Aboukir, 8th March 1801 - Philip James de Loutherbourg 1802.

In 1802, Entreprenante was recalled home, arriving at Portsmouth on the 28th November and was paid off, refitting and having her copper replaced, undocking on the 29th October 1803 and recommissioning under her new commander Lieutenant James Brown, organising his crew around setting up rigging and taking in stores.

On the 7th January 1803 Entreprenante finally sailed from Portsmouth and moored off Spithead awaiting orders, returning to Portsmouth on the 29th January to perform remedies on some minor defects discovered after her refit, sailing again on the 2nd February, and on 12th April 1804, Lieutenant Robert Benjamin Young took command and under who she would serve during the Trafalgar Campaign the following year.

On the 7th November 1804, Entreprenante was back at Portsmouth to have her copper repaired and sailed thirteen days later. 

On the 7th September 1805 Lieutenant Young received orders to join Nelson's fleet off Cadiz and sailed on the 11th, reaching her destination on the 2nd October, with Young recording in his log observing the Cadiz light lying 10 miles off and joining the fleet on Friday 4th October to be immediately deployed with the schooner Pickle and frigates of Sir Henry Blackwood's inshore squadron watching Cadiz .

A British Cutter off Cadiz with the Spanish Fleet in the Harbour, 1797 - Thomas Buttersworth.
Eight years later in October 1805, Entreprenante was performing the same level of observation on Villeneuve's Combined Fleet, part of Sir Henry Blackwood's inshore squadron.

Monday 21st October 1805 - Battle of Trafalgar

In Entreprenante's log, Lieutenant Young records

'Squally with rain 

Refit the mainsail, shifted Jibs and closed reeft the Bowsprit per signal with the fleet

AM Moderate and cloudy at Daylight 

Observed the Enemy consisting of 35 sail to the Eastw'd

Observed the fleet wear and stood towards them under all sail 

At noon light breezes and cloudy 

The Body of the Enemy's fleet ESE 3 miles'

Being such a small vessel, Entreprenante did not play a part in the action off Cape Trafalgar but instead cruised near the fleet, acting in support where required. Her most significant part came towards the end of the action at about 5.45pm, when she with the Schooner Pickle and boats from Prince 90-guns and Swiftsure 74-guns, rescued people abandoning the French Achille 74-guns which had caught fire.

Survivors from the French 74-gun Achille which blew up at the end of the battle being rescued by British boats.

Despite the danger, Entreprenante and the forenamed ships saved 200 people from the raging inferno Achille had become before she blew up; and following the storm that developed at the close of the battle and once the weather had abated, Entreprenante was sent to Faro, Portugal with copies of Admiral Collingwood's dispatches and later returned to England.

The year 1806 saw the little cutter dry-docked in Plymouth on 13th January to have her copper replaced, spending the rest of the year patrolling the English Channel and French coast, and on the 28th June she was unsuccessful in aiding the 4-gun schooner Capelin, which had run onto the Parquette Rock while reconnoitring the harbour at Brest, returning to Plymouth in the November for repairs to her copper, suggesting a poor job done back in January.

Her Channel Fleet duties would continue through to 1809, operating from Plymouth and the appointment of Lieutenant Peter Williams as her new commander on the 4th December 1808 who would lead the recapturing of the schooner Cora on the 27th December 1808.

Entreprenante sailed for Portugal on 24th May 1809, and in January 1810 she was at Pera, Ottoman-Turkey, taking on presents from the Sublime Porte intended for George III, returning to Plymouth in March 1810 and then to make preparations for returning back to the Mediterranean, to arrive back on station on the 31st October 1810.

Entreprenante found herself becalmed off the Spanish coast near Castle Ferro, between Málaga and Cape De Gatt on the morning of 12 December 1810. Whilst she was lying there, four French lateen-rigged privateers came out to attack her. 

Action off Málaga, 12th December 1810.

One of the French vessels had eight guns, including two long 18-pounder guns, and 75 men. The second had five guns and a crew of 45 men. The last two each had two guns and crews of 25 men. Entreprenante was short-handed, having on board only 33 men.

Two of the privateers passed under Entreprenante's stern while the other two stood off her starboard bow and quarter. The ensuing battle lasted for four hours until the French retreated, having suffered heavy damage. During the action Entreprenante had lost her topmast and had two starboard guns disabled. She had also repulsed three attempts at boarding during which she had one man killed and ten wounded.

William James gives the following more fulsome account of the action;

'On the 12th of December, at 8 a.m., the British cutter Entreprenante, mounting eight 4-pounders, with 33 men and boys, Lieutenant Peter Williams, while lying becalmed off the coast of Spain, about midway between Malaga and Almeria bay, observed four vessels at anchor under the castle of Faro. At 9 a.m., they vessels, which were French latteen-rigged privateers, one of six guns, including two long 18-pounders, and 75 men, another of five guns and 45 men, and the remaining two of two guns and 25 men each, weighed and swept out towards the cutter. 

At 10 h. 30 m. a.m. the privateers hoisted their colours, and opened their fire. At 11 a.m., which was as early as her lighter guns would reach, the Entreprenante commenced firing at the privateers; one of the two largest of which lay on her starboard bow, the other on her starboard quarter, and the two smaller once right astern. The action was now maintained with spirit on both sides, at a pistol-shot distance, each party firing with round and grape shot, and the cutter with musketry also. At noon the Entreprenante had her topmast, peek-halliards and blocks, fore jeers, fore halliards, and jib-tie shot away; also two of her starboard guns disabled, by the stock of one and the carriage of the other being broken.

The Entreprenante with eight 4-pounders and thirty-three men and boys, commanded by Lieutenant Peter Williams (active 1801-14), had been becalmed off the Spanish coast near Castle Ferro when she was attacked by four French privateers, together manned by 170 men and fifteen guns. After a battle lasting about four hours, the French retreated, heavily damaged, while the Entreprenante lost her topmast and had two guns disabled. 
This view shows the Entreprenante, at about 11.00 am, firing at one of the largest of the privateers on her starboard bow (right side; to the left of this view).

Seeing the cutter in this disabled state, the nearest of the two large privateers attempted to board; but her men were driven back by the British crew, who, with the two foremost guns and musketry, kept up an incessant fire. A second attempt was made to board, and a second time it was defeated, but with a loss to the cutter of one man killed and four wounded. The Entreprenante now manned her starboard sweeps, and, getting round, brought her larboard guns to bear. With two broadsides from these, she compelled three of her antagonists to sheer off.

All the cutter's canister-shot and musket-balls were now expended; but at this moment two well-directed broadsides, doubled-shotted, carried away the foremast and bowsprit of the most formidable of the privateers. Grown desperate by a resistance so unexpected, the Frenchmen made a third attempt to board the British vessel, but met with no better success than before; although in their effort to repulse them, the Entreprenante had two of her larboard guns dismounted, and experienced some additional loss. 

The fire of the privateers now beginning to slacken, the cutter's people gave three cheers, and, with two guns double-shotted, poured a destructive raking fire into the vessel that was dismasted. This decided the business; and, at 2 h. 30 m. p.m., the two greatest sufferers by the contest were towed to the shore by boats. The Entreprenante continued sending her shot after her flying foes until 3 p.m., when they got beyond her reach. The castle of Faro at this time fired a few ineffectual shots at the British cutter.

A view of the end of the action between HM cutter Entreprenante and four French privateers of Castle Ferro, 12 December 1810. This view shows the Entreprenante, sometime after midday, having had her topmast, peek-halliards and blocks, fore jeers, fore halliards and jib-tie shot away.

Notwithstanding the length and severity of this action, and the more than double force opposed to the Entreprenante, the latter escaped with no greater loss than one man killed and 10 wounded. The loss on the part of her opponents could only be gathered from rumour, and that made it as many as 81 in killed and wounded; not an improbable amount, considering how numerously the privateers were manned, and how well the cutter plied her cannon and musketry. 

On his return to Gibraltar, Lieutenant Williams, and the officers and crew of the Entreprenante, received the public acknowledgment (sic) of the commanding officer on the station, Commodore Charles Vinicombe Penrose. Some other marks of favour were conferred upon the lieutenant; but the reward the most coveted, and, considering that a particle less of energy and perseverance might have lost the king's cutter, no one can say, a reward not fully merited, promotion, appears to have been withheld. We judge so, because, according to the admiralty navy-list, Lieutenant Williams was not made a commander until the 27th of August, 1814.'

Entreprenante remained off the Spanish coast into 1811, and on the 22nd April she captured the American merchant ship Hannah and her cargo.

A beautiful larger scale rendition of Entreprenante provided further inspiration for my own interpretation.

Entreprenante next saw action on the 25th April, this following her arriving into Málaga Bay under a flag of truce to deliver a letter to the Governor, General Sabastini, and whilst on this duty, the British spotted two French privateers coming into the harbour, escorting a prize. (The privateers were two of the vessels that Entreprenante had repulsed in December 1810.) 

Lieutenant Williams collected a reply from the Governor for Lieutenant-General Colin Campbell at Gibraltar, and Entreprenante made her way out of the harbour. One privateer had already anchored off the mole, but the other and the prize were still under way, and Williams closed on the privateer, armed as it later proved, with six guns and had a crew of 50 men and brought her to battle, which after a sharp engagement lasting fifteen minutes, Entreprenante drove her on shore, severely hulled. 

By now, the water under Entreprenante's keel was less than three fathoms (18-feet) and Williams was obliged to tack, turning his attention to the prize, and after firing a few shots, boarded her and took possession. She was the Spanish brig St. Joseph (San Jose), out of Cadiz and Gibraltar, and had been captured whilst sailing to Tarragona. Williams took her in tow and sailed her out of the harbour; this while hundreds of spectators on the mole head at Málaga watched the action, accomplished without taking any casualties. 

This was to be Entreprenante's last action, as she was recalled home, arriving at Plymouth on the 22nd March 1812 with dispatches from the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, and Cadiz, following which she was paid off in April 1812, and was broken up in June, after more than a decade of distinguished service.

The Model

This model cutter is much smaller than the Warlord generic offering and really captures the diminutive size of this 67 foot vessel perfectly with just five small guns protruding from each broadside. the mainmast and jib are scratch built but utilises sails and spanker booms and gaff from the Warlord brig, together with ratlines and colours.

With more Mediterranean style, lateen rigged offerings available now, I'm looking forward to pitting this remarkable little ship in some of her actions against the French privateers, where skilfully fighting such a small unit can be put to the test, plus it will be nice to see her on the table with the Trafalgar fleets next year.