HMS Melpomene (1794)

HMS Melpomene

Melpomene (drawn when captured, 1794)
History
France
Name	Melpomène
Builder	Toulon Dockyard
Laid down	February 1788
Launched	6 August 1789
Captured	10 August 1794 by the Royal Navy
Great Britain
Name	Melpomene
Fate	Sold 1815
General characteristics (as re-measured following her capture)
Class and type	Minerve-class frigate
Tons burthen	1,013 52⁄94 (bm)
Length	148 feet 2 inches (45.2 m) (gundeck) 123 feet 8+1⁄4 inches (37.7 m) (keel)
Beam	39 feet 3 inches (12 m)
Depth	13 feet 6 inches (4.1 m)
Propulsion	sail
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 18 pdr (8.2 kg) long guns Upperworks: 10 × 8 pdr (3.6 kg) long guns
General characteristics (as re-armed by the British)
Armament	Gundeck: 28 × 18 pdr (8.2 kg) long guns Upperworks: 10 × 9 pdr (4.1 kg) long guns; 8 × 32 pdr (15 kg) carronades

HMS Melpomene was a 38-gun frigate of the Royal Navy. Originally a French vessel, she was captured at Calvi on 10 August 1794 and first saw British service in the English Channel, where she helped to contain enemy privateering. In October 1798, she chased a French frigate squadron sent to find the French fleet under Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, that was routed at the Battle of Tory Island and in August 1799, she joined Andrew Mitchell's squadron for the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.

In April 1800, Melpomene was active along the coast of Senegal and led a small squadron that captured the island of Gorée. She later returned to the Channel where, in July 1804, she took part in a bombardment of Le Havre. For much of 1809, she was employed in the Baltic where she fought in some notable actions during the Gunboat War and the Anglo-Russian War.