Egyptienne (ship)
Encyclopedia
During the French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
Egyptienne or Egypt, which commemorated Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, was a popular name for French vessels, including naval vessels and privateer
s. Between 1799 and 1804, warships of the Royal Navy
captured one French frigate and five different French privateers all with the name Egyptienne, and at least one privateer with the name Egypte.
, a fire ship
, captured another French privateer brig Egyptienne in the Mediterranean on 12 May 1800. This Egyptienne was armed with eight guns and had a crew of 50 men.
to windward of Barbados, pursued and captured the 16-gun French sloop Egypte from Guadeloupe. The pursuit lasted 16 hours while Egypte kept up a running fight for three hours. She had a crew of 103 men, and during the engagement apparently had neither inflicted nor suffered any casualties. Bland reported that Egypte was said to be the fastest vessel out of Guadeloupe. She had sailed 13 days earlier but had made no captures.
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
Egyptienne or Egypt, which commemorated Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, was a popular name for French vessels, including naval vessels and privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s. Between 1799 and 1804, warships of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
captured one French frigate and five different French privateers all with the name Egyptienne, and at least one privateer with the name Egypte.
Egyptienne
- His Majesty's schoonerSchoonerA schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
captured the first French ship named Egyptienne on record, on 1 May 1799. Egyptienne, a privateer schooner, was pierced for 14 guns but only carried eight, four of which she had thrown overboard while trying to evade capture. She had only 35 men on board, having recently taken four neutral vessels as prizes. Netley had herself recaptured one of these, a galiotGaliotGaliots were types of ships from the Age of Sail.In the Mediterranean, galiots were a type of small galley, with one or two masts and about twenty oars, using both sails and oars for propulsion...
carrying a cargo of wine from Oporto.
- On 24 November 1799, captured a second French privateer ship Egyptienne. This Egyptienne was of 300 tons burthenBuilder's Old MeasurementBuilder's Old Measurement is the method of calculating the size or cargo capacity of a ship used in England from approximately 1720 to 1849. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam...
, was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 140 men. She was sailing from Cape FrançoisCap-HaïtienCap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
to JacquemelJacmelJacmel, also known by its indigenous Taíno name of Yaquimel, is a town in southern Haiti founded in 1698. It is the capital of the department of Sud-Est and has an estimated population of 40,000, while the municipality of Jacmel had a population of 137,966 at the 2003 Census.The buildings are...
. , under Commander John PerkinsJohn Perkins (Royal Navy officer)Captain John Perkins, Royal Navy was a British naval officer.Perkins, nicknamed Jack Punch, was the first black commissioned officer in the Royal Navy. He rose from obscurity to be one of the most successful ship captains of the Georgian navy...
was in company with Solebay.
- On 5 February 1800, captured the French privateer brigBrigA brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Egyptienne off the Isle of WightIsle of WightThe Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. This Egyptienne mounted 15 brass guns and had a crew of 66 men. She had sailed from Cherbourg the evening before and had not yet taken any prizes. As she was striking her colours her crew suddenly discharged a volley of small arms fire that slightly wounded one man on Mercury.
, a fire ship
Fire ship
A fire ship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, deliberately set on fire and steered into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy ships, or to create panic and make the enemy break formation. Ships used as fire ships were usually old and worn out or...
, captured another French privateer brig Egyptienne in the Mediterranean on 12 May 1800. This Egyptienne was armed with eight guns and had a crew of 50 men.
- The British captured the French frigate Egyptienne on 2 September 1801, after the fall of Alexandria. This Egyptienne then served in the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
under the same name until 1817 when she was broken up.
- On 27 March 1804 captured the Egyptienne, a French privateer and the former French frigate Railleuse. Egyptienne mounted 36 guns and carried a crew of 250 men. She did not surrender until after a 54-hour long chase and a running fight of over 3 hours. The Royal Navy took Egyptienne into service as the prison ship .
Egypte
On 28 May 1801, some 80 leaguesLeague (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...
to windward of Barbados, pursued and captured the 16-gun French sloop Egypte from Guadeloupe. The pursuit lasted 16 hours while Egypte kept up a running fight for three hours. She had a crew of 103 men, and during the engagement apparently had neither inflicted nor suffered any casualties. Bland reported that Egypte was said to be the fastest vessel out of Guadeloupe. She had sailed 13 days earlier but had made no captures.