HMS Artois (1794) facts for kids

Design of HMS Artois
Quick facts for kids History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Artois
Ordered	28 March 1793
Cost	£20,757
Laid down	March 1793
Launched	3 January 1794
Commissioned	December 1793
Fate	Wrecked off Île de Ré, 31 July 1797
General characteristics
Class and type	Artois-class fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	9965⁄94 (bm)
Length	146 ft 3 in (44.6 m) (gundeck) 121 ft 9+3⁄4 in (37.1 m) (keel)
Beam	39 ft 2+1⁄2 in (12 m)
Draught	10 ft (3 m) (forwards) 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	13 ft 9 in (4.2 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Complement	270
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 18-pounder guns QD: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 12 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Artois was a fast frigate (a type of warship) in the Royal Navy. She was designed by Sir John Henslow and launched in 1794. Artois was the first ship of her kind, known as the Artois-class.

She spent most of her time in the English Channel, working with squadrons led by Edward Pellew and John Borlase Warren. Her most famous moment was capturing the French frigate La Révolutionnaire in 1794. Artois also took part in other important events, like the attempt to invade France in 1795. She was very active, patrolling the coast of France and capturing many enemy ships. Sadly, Artois was wrecked on July 31, 1797, near Île de Ré, but luckily, everyone on board was saved.

Building a Warship: HMS Artois

Artois was a 38-gun frigate, meaning she carried 38 cannons. She was part of the "fifth-rate" class of ships. Her design was created by Sir John Henslow. These ships were ordered at the start of the French Revolutionary War to give the Royal Navy new, modern warships.

Artois was the first ship of her class to be built. Most ships in her class, including Artois, were made from strong oak wood. Her design was an improvement over older frigates. They made Artois longer at the front to make her faster and more stable in the water. Even with these changes, the ships still pitched (rocked back and forth) a lot in rough seas. Despite this, the Artois-class ships became known as "crack frigates." They were perfect for their job: big enough to fight French frigates and fast enough to stay on patrol in any weather.

Artois was ordered on March 28, 1793, and built in Rotherhithe. She was launched on January 3, 1794. Her main deck was about 44.6 meters (146 feet 3 inches) long. She was about 11.9 meters (39 feet 2.5 inches) wide. Her fitting out was finished on March 30, 1794. Later, in November 1794, eight 32-pounder carronades (short, powerful cannons) were added to Artois and her sister ships. This made some people call them "44-gun frigates." In 1796, the ship's crew grew from 270 to 284 sailors.

Life at Sea: Artois's Service

1794: Early Missions and Big Battles

Artois began her service in December 1793 under Captain Lord Charles Fitzgerald. Soon after, Captain Edmund Nagle took command. In April 1794, Artois helped at the siege of Bastia. Here, ships of Admiral Lord Hood's fleet stopped supplies from reaching the French soldiers in Bastia, forcing them to give up.

After this, Artois moved to the English Channel. She joined Commodore John Borlase Warren's squadron, which was blocking the French port of Brest. She spent most of her time patrolling around Audierne Bay.

Destroying Le Volontaire

On August 23, Artois helped destroy the French frigate Le Volontaire. Warren's squadron found the French frigate near the Penmarks. The British ships chased Le Volontaire, forcing her to anchor close to shore. The British attacked, and Le Volontaire had to cut her anchor ropes. This caused her to run aground (get stuck on the shore). Her crew left the ship, and she was destroyed.

The same British squadron then found two more French ships, L'Alerte and Espion. These ships also ran aground to avoid capture. The British boarded them and took some prisoners. L'Alerte was lost, but the French managed to save Espion. The squadron continued its patrols, capturing other smaller ships and recapturing British merchant vessels.

Capturing La Révolutionnaire

HMS Révolutionnaire, captured by Artois in 1794

In October, Artois was part of Edward Pellew's squadron. On October 21, they found the French frigate La Révolutionnaire near Ushant. The British ships chased her. Artois was faster than the others and caught up to La Révolutionnaire first.

The two frigates fought for about 40 minutes. Eight French sailors and three British sailors were killed. When Diamond, another British frigate, came closer, La Révolutionnaire surrendered to Artois. The French ship had only been launched a few weeks before, and her new crew refused to keep fighting. Pellew said that Artois would have won even without help. The captured French frigate was added to the Royal Navy as HMS Révolutionnaire. Captain Nagle was knighted (given a special honor) for his bravery.

1795: More Captures and an Invasion Attempt

After this big victory, Artois rejoined Commodore Warren's squadron. On February 18, 1795, they found a French convoy (a group of ships traveling together) of twenty ships near Oléron. The convoy was protected by a French frigate called Néréide. The British squadron chased the convoy, capturing several ships and destroying others. These ships were carrying food and clothes for the French army.

Between February and March, the squadron was very busy, capturing many more French merchant ships. On April 15, Artois chased and captured the 26-gun French corvette Le Jean Bart. The next day, Artois and another frigate, Galatea, captured the 16-gun sloop Expedition. Artois also captured two sloops carrying fish.

Between June and October, Artois took part in a failed attempt by French royalists (people who supported the old French king) to invade France at Quiberon. Artois was present at the Battle of Groix on June 23. She shared in the capture of three large French warships, even though she wasn't directly involved in the fighting. Artois and other ships helped protect the convoy carrying the invasion force. The troops landed successfully, but after losing battles against the French revolutionary soldiers, they had to be evacuated back to England. Artois and the other ships provided covering fire to help the royalists escape.

1796: Blockades and Ship Destruction

After the failed invasion, Artois went back to her usual duties of blocking ports and patrolling. She captured more ships in March 1796. On March 20, Artois and other frigates found a large French convoy of seventy ships near Pointe du Raz. The convoy was guarded by several French frigates and a corvette. Artois and Pomone quickly captured four of the convoy ships.

The French warships tried to protect the convoy, exchanging fire with the British ships. The British tried to break through the convoy but couldn't bring them to another big battle. They only captured one armed store ship, Etoile. The French warships and most of the convoy escaped. Commodore Warren was criticized for not pushing his advantage more. Artois continued to capture more French merchant ships in April, May, and August.

Sir Edmund Nagle, who commanded Artois for most of her service

Destroying Andromaque

On August 22, Artois and her squadron were near the Gironde river when they saw the French frigate Andromaque. Andromaque was trying to enter the river. Galatea chased her, followed by Pomone and Anson. Artois and Sylph went to check on two other ships. The chase continued all night.

By morning, Andromaque was very close to shore. She tried to escape but ran aground (got stuck) near Arcachon, losing all her masts. Artois, Galatea, and Sylph sent their boats to take control of the frigate. Many of Andromaque's crew jumped into the sea to avoid capture, while others walked to shore when the tide went out. That evening, boats from Sylph set fire to Andromaque, and she exploded.

On November 2, Artois helped capture the 12-gun privateer Le Franklin. In December, Artois had a string of successes, capturing several French and Spanish merchant ships.

1797: Final Missions

Artois's squadron continued to be active in 1797, capturing more ships in February and March, and recapturing a British whaling ship in April. On July 16, they found a French convoy of fourteen ships protected by the frigate La Calliope and two corvettes. The corvettes escaped, but La Calliope couldn't get away.

To avoid being captured, La Calliope cut down her masts and ran herself aground on the Penmarks. To stop the French from taking supplies from La Calliope, Anson and Sylph fired cannons at the stranded ship. Artois and Pomone watched from a distance. La Calliope broke apart on the rocks on July 18.

The End of Artois

On July 31, 1797, Artois was wrecked. She hit a sandbank near the Ballieu rocks on the north-west coast of Île de Ré. She was trying to scout the harbor of La Rochelle. Luckily, the entire crew was saved by the ship Sylph. The ship's pilot and master (the person in charge of navigation) were blamed for causing the wreck because they were not careful enough.

Captured Ships

Artois and her squadron captured or helped destroy many enemy ships during her service. Here are some of them:

Vessels captured or destroyed for which Artois's crew received full or partial credit
Date	Ship	Nationality	Type	Fate	Ref.
23 August 1794	Le Volontaire	French	36-gun frigate	Destroyed
23 August 1794	L'Alerte	French	12-gun brig	Destroyed
26 August 1794	Queen	British	Merchant vessel	Recaptured
26 August 1794	Donna Maria	Spanish	Merchant vessel	Recaptured
7 September 1794	Le Quartidi	French	Cutter	Captured
16 September 1794	Haesingeland	Swedish	Merchant vessel	Recaptured
21 October 1794	La Révolutionnaire	French	44-gun frigate	Captured
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Destroyed
18 February 1795	Not recorded	French	Lugger	Destroyed
13 February-2 March 1795	Le Pierre	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	Le Petit Jean	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	Le Deux Freres	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	La Liberte	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	Le Adelaide	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	L'Aimable	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	La Coureause	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	L'Aimable Madelaine	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	La Pacquebot de Cayenne	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
13 February-2 March 1795	La Biche	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
15 April 1795	Le Jean Bart	French	26-gun corvette	Captured
16 April 1795	Expedition	French	16-gun sloop	Captured
16 April 1795	Maria Francis Fidilla	Spanish	Merchant vessel	Captured
16 April 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant sloop	Captured
16 April 1795	Not recorded	French	Merchant sloop	Captured
23 June 1795	Alexander	French	74-gun ship-of-the-line	Captured
23 June 1795	Tigre	French	74-gun ship-of-the-line	Captured
23 June 1795	Formidable	French	74-gun ship-of-the-line	Captured
6 March 1796	Sultana	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
7 March 1796	Nancy	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
20 March 1796	L'Etoile	French	28-gun armed store ship	Captured
20 March 1796	Illier	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
20 March 1796	Don de Dieu	French	Merchant brig	Captured
20 March 1796	Paul Edward	French	Merchant brig	Captured
20 March 1796	Felicite	French	Merchant brig	Captured
20 March 1796	Not recorded	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
7–13 April 1796	La Marie	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
7–13 April 1796	L'Union	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
7–13 April 1796	La Bonne	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
7–13 April 1796	Not recorded	French	Merchant brig	Captured
14 May 1796	Pacific	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
22 May 1796	Lodoiska	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
25 May 1796	Fantasie	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
16 August 1796	Charlotte	French	Chasse-marée	Captured
16 August 1796	Veronique	French	Chasse-marée	Captured
23 August 1796	Andromaque	French	32-gun frigate	Destroyed
2 November 1796	Le Franklin	French	12-gun privateer	Captured
11 December 1796	Le Providence	French	Chasse-marée	Captured
11 December 1796	La Maria Theresa	French	Chasse-marée	Captured
14 December 1796	Not recorded	Spanish	Merchant brig	Captured
17 December 1796	Divina Pastora	Spanish	Merchant brig	Captured
15 February 1797	Le Jean Amie	French	Merchant vessel	Captured
16 March 1797	Nordzee	Dutch	Merchant vessel	Captured
25 April 1797	Mary	British	Whaler	Recaptured
17 July 1797	La Calliope	French	28-gun frigate	Destroyed