French frigate Infatigable (1799)

History
France
Name	Infatigable
Builder	Le Havre (Construteur:Charles-Henri Tellier)
Laid down	19 July 1797
Launched	6 April 1799
Commissioned	March 1800
Captured	25 September 1806
United Kingdom
Name	Immortalite
Acquired	25 September 1806 (by capture)
Commissioned	23 September 1801
Fate	Scrapped, 1811
General characteristics [1]
Type	Frigate
Displacement	1,341 tons (French)
Length	47.75 m (156.7 ft) (overall); 42.22 m (138.5 ft)
Beam	12.07 m (39.6 ft)
Complement	340 (war); 260 (peace)
Armament	French service Upper deck: 28 × 18-livre QD and Fc: 12 × 8-livre + 4 × 36-livre obusiers British service: Not re-armed

Infatigable was a 40-gun Valeureuse-class frigate of the French Navy, launched at Le Havre in 1799. She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1806. She was taken into the Royal Navy but never used and she was broken up in 1811.

French career

Infatigable was under the command of capitaine de vaiseau Meynne between 22 October 1801 and 26 December 1802. First she sailed from Havre to Cherbourg. Then she carried troops from Cherbourg to Cap-Français via Douvres, Dunkirk, and Flessingue. From Cap-Français she conducted a mission to Havana, from which she returned to Cap-Français before sailing back to Brest.[2]

Around 31 July 1803 capitaine de vaisseau Troude brought the colonial prefect (governor) of "Aure" and passengers from Cap-Français back to Lorient.[3]

A French squadron consisting of Actæon, Armide, Gloire, Infatigable, Jemmapes, Lion, Lynx and Magnanime burnt the sloop Eclipse, Lady Nelson, Matthew, Thetis, and Thomas in an attack at Saint Kitts. The same squadron burnt the Lady Jane Halliday, the Nelly, and the Themis at Nevis.

Between 11 and 20 November 1805, Infatigable, under the command of capitaine de vaisseau Joseph-Maurice Girardias, was in Île-d'Aix roads.[4]

Capture

A four-ship squadron of the Royal Navy under Samuel Hood captured her in the action of 25 September 1806, together with Gloire, Minerve and Armide after they had left Rochefort the evening before. Infatigable was under the command of capitaine de vaisseau "Giradiers". French casualties were heavy as the French squadron was carrying troops.[5]

Fate

The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Immortalite but never used her. She was broken up in 1811.

Citations

1. Winfield & Roberts (2015), p. 142.
2. Fonds Marine, p. 267.
3. Fonds Marine, p. 286.
4. Fonds Marine, p. 341.
5. "No. 15962". The London Gazette. 30 September 1806. pp. 1306–1307.

References

• Archives de France (2000). Fonds marine campagnes : opérations, divisions et stations navales, missions diverses : inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB⁴. Centre historique des Archives nationales. ISBN 978-2860002653.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)
• Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786—1862: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 9781848322042.