Anglaisdedicace

Indeed, this warship light, fast and agile, which concentrated its firepower on a single bridge, was a prerequisite for any great navy.

The frigates were essentially predatory, whose role was to capture or destroy enemy merchant ships, pirates, slave traders, and all other vessels with a force equivalent.

In most cases the mere fact of seeing him fall on a frigate caused the ship's crew chased a real terror and where he chose to fight, defeat was highly probable.

For its armament and protection offered by its planking, it could in no way compete with a ship of the line. However, she quickly took a leading role as a scout. Tough to the sea, fast and manoeuvrable, she was the eyes of the squadron.

She could indeed get away from the fleet in search of the enemy, her speed and maneuvrability putting away of the ships of the line.

She showed herself capable of harassing these vessels until the arrival of the main forces that could engage in real combat.

During battles, they were used to relay signals, carrying orders, support their fire the ships of the line most at risk, they gave part of their crew, or took them in tow.

She was able to bring the news and orders to the most distant squadrons. For very distant colony, she was the assurance that in any circumstance, it would be protected.

Finally her qualities make her a beautiful and an excellent pirate "blockade runners" at a time when the struggle against the trade was crucial. They provided convoy escort and surveillance of enemy ports.

It was in the frigate duels that the simple courage of the sailors of those days where the officers were no less likely than men under his command, best expressed.

All this explains why young officers liked being named on these ships, with which they hope to take a role adventurous and shine quickly to the public. In his novels, Patrick O’Brian invites us to follow an officer the Navy, Jack Aubrey, in his adventures on board the frigate HMS Surprise,in the 1800s.

This site is also a tribute to Jacques Noël Sané,, naval architect, who after his drawings of 12 pounder frigates of Sybille or Venus Class, reached the pinnacle of his art with drawings of his 18 pounder* frigates, a total of 143 frigates.

Its frigates will be copied by the English, and used to develop drawings to the Navy's 24 pounder frigates.

To make us closer to these vessels traveled the seas there two hundred years, I'll tell the story of three of them :

The Hermione, a french 12-pounder* frigate, the frigate type of the first war of independence, famous for carrying Lafayette during his American trip.

HMS Shannon, a british 18-pounder* frigate, the one of the wars of the first empire, known for his duel and victory against the USS Chesapeake.

USS Constitution, an American 24-pounder* frigate, spearheaded the fledgling U.S. Navy during the War of Independence, built in 1797, winning in several duels against the English frigates, and still in use today.

Whenever possible, I have juxtaposed the historical accounts of battles and duels.You will no doubt amused by the differences in the relation by each opponent of the same battle

Owner	France La Royale	U.S.A. U.S. Navy	United Kingdom Navy
Name	Hermione	USS Constitution	HMS Shannon
Builder	Chevillard, Rochefor	Humphreys, Boston	Brindley, Frindsbury
Launch	April 19, 1779	October 21, 1797	May 5, 1806
Class and type	32-gun frigateFrigate 12-pounder* frigate Concorde Class	44-gun frigate 24-pounder* frigate Original six	38-gun frigate 18-pounder* frigate Leda Class
Displacement	1082 tons	2,200 tons	1066 tons
Length	146 ft	175 ft	150 ft
Breadth	36 ft	43 ft	40 ft
Draft	14 ft	21 ft forward 13 ft aft	17 ft
speed	13 to 15 knots	13 to 14 knots
Crew	240 officers and men	450 officers and men	330 officers and men
Armament	26 x 12 pounder guns 8 x 6 pounder guns	30 × 24-pounder long guns, 20 × 32-pounder carronades, 2 × 24-pounder bow chasers	28 x 18 pounder guns 10 x 9 pounder guns 16 x 32 pounder carronades

* The names 12-pounder, 18-pounder and 24-pounder

are related to weight in pounds of bullets.

Obviously I can not close this page without saying a big Thank You to Line, my wife and Maxime, my son and webmaster, without whom this site would not exist.

Xavier Woimant

The documents presented and the reproductions are supposed to belong to the public domain, and used only for illustration public. In case of any complaints having rights, the disputed documents be removed immediately upon request or the source specified more precisely. Happy reading!