French corvette Étonnante (1795)

History
France
Name	Étonnante
Namesake	"Surprising"
Builder	Fouache & Reine, Honfleur
Launched	27 August 1795
In service	November 1796
Fate	Hulked in Brest in 1806
General characteristics [1][2]
Type	Corvette
Displacement	640-719 tons (French)
Length	35.95 m (117.9 ft) (overall) 32.48 m (106.6 ft) (keel)
Beam	9.74 m (32.0 ft)
Draught	4.68 m (15.4 ft) (unladen)
Depth of hold	4.82 m (15.8 ft)
Propulsion	Sail
Armament	Design: 14 x 24-pounder guns 1797-1803: 16 x 18-pounder long guns
Armour	Timber

Étonnante was an 18-gun Etna-class corvette of the French Navy, launched in 1795. She was struck from the navy in 1804 and hulked in 1806.

Career[]

In the night of 13 to 14 November 1796, Étonnante departed Le Havre with her sister-ship Etna, and was chased by HMS Melampus and HMS Minerva, which drove her ashore near Barfleur. However the British were not able to get close enough to assure the destruction of Étonnante. Still, they were able to capture Etna.^[3] The French were able with difficulty to salvage Étonnante.^[2]

Étonnante later served at Saint-Malo in 1797 and at Brest in 1802. She was struck in 1804.^[1] She then underwent conversion to a ponton arrière-garde or corps de garde. She disappears from records after 1806.^[2]

Notes, citations, and references[]

Notes

Citations

References

• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671–1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 186. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.