Hébé-class frigate

HMS Amelia, ex-Proserpine
Class overview
NameHébé class
BuildersSaint-Malo, Brest and Toulon
Operators
Preceded byPourvoyeuse class
Succeeded byDanaé class
Planned6
Completed6
Lost3
Retired3
General characteristics
TypeFrigate
Displacement700 tonnes
Length46.3 m (152 ft)
Beam11.9 m (39 ft)
Draught5.5 m (18 ft)
Sail planShip-rigged
Complement297
Armament
  • 26 long 18-pounder guns (later increased to 28)
  • 12 long 8-pounder guns
  • 4 36-pounder obusiers

The Hébé class was a class of six 38-gun (later 40-gun) frigates of the French Navy, designed in 1781 by Jacques-Noël Sané. The name ship of the class. Hébé, was also the basis for the British Leda-class frigates after the ship had been captured.

Ships in class

Sybille vs. Chiffonne
Name Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
Hébé Saint Malo December 1781 25 June 1782 August 1782 Captured by British Navy in the action of 4 September 1782. The British took her into service and in 1805 renamed her HMS Blonde. Hébé became the model for the British Leda-class frigates, the first of which was HMS Leda. Hébé, therefore, has the rare distinction of being the model for both a French and a British frigate class.
Vénus Brest November 1781 14 July 1782 October 1782 Wrecked on 31 December 1788 in the Indian Ocean.
Dryade Saint Malo 1782 3 February 1783 April 1783 Retired in 1796; condemned 16 November 1801 and taken to pieces.
Proserpine Brest December 1784 25 June 1785 August 1785 Captured by British Navy on 13 June 1796. The British took her into service as HMS Amelia.
Sibylle Toulon April 1790 30 July 1791 May 1792 Captured by British Navy on 17 June 1794. The British took her into service as HMS Sybille.
Carmagnole La Motte, Brest March 1792 22 May 1793 July 1793 Renamed Rassurante 30 May 1795, but reverted to Carmagnole 24 February 1798; wrecked in a storm at Vlissingen on 9 November 1800.

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. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714-1792. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
  • French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (Rif Winfield and Stephen S. Roberts). Seaforth Publishing, 2015. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.