French frigate Félicité (1785)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Félicité |
| Namesake | Felicity |
| Builder | Brest |
| Laid down | 1 January 1785 |
| Launched | 4 August 1785 |
| In service | 28 August 1785 |
| Out of service | 16 June 1809 |
| History | |
.svg){kind=small} State of Haiti | |
| Name | Améthyste |
| Namesake | Amethyst |
| In service | 1809 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Félicité class frigate |
| Displacement | 700 tonnes |
| Length | 44.2 metres |
| Beam | 11.3 metres |
| Draught | 5.6 metres |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Armament | list error: <br /> list (help) 32 guns:
|
| Armour | Timber |
The Félicité was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. Captured by the British Navy and sold to the State of Haiti, she entered Haitian service as Améthyste.
French service
In 1792, she traveled to the Caribbean Sea. On 29 December, she took part in the capture of the royalist brig Légère off Saint-Pierre.
On 6 February 1806, she was present at the Battle of San Domingo, from which she escaped unharmed together with two other French vessels, the 36-gun frigate Cornélie and the 16-gun ship-corvette Diligente.
In February 1809, she sailed with Troude's division to the Caribbean, armed en flûte. On 18 August, she was captured by HMS Latona and Cherub and sold to Henri Christophe's State of Haiti the next month.
Haitian service
For reasons unknown, in January 1812, the Haitian Navy defected to the rebel Borgella, who placed a French privateer named Gaspard in command of the Améthyste (recommissioned as Heureuse Réunion), a corvette, and a brig. Gaspard armed the flagship with 44 cannon and a crew of over 600 men including Haitians, Frenchmen, and Americans.
Stopped soon thereafter upon suspicion of piracy by Captain James Yeo, commanding HMS Southampton, the Heureuse Réunion began the Action of 3 February 1812. Unable to close fast enough to board the more nimble Southampton and losing her mainmast, the Heureuse Réunion surrendered and was dragged to Jamaica, where her ownership was returned to Haiti.
Sources and references
- Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours 1 1671 - 1870. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.[page needed][self-published source?]