French frigate Bellone (1807)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Bellone and HMS Junon.

Bellone was a 44-gun Consolante-class frigate of the French Navy.

Bellone at the Battle of Grand Port.
History
France
Name	Bellone
Namesake	Bellona
Ordered	14 January 1803
Builder	Saint Servan (near Saint Malo; Ethéart company), plans by Sané
Laid down	March 1806
Launched	18 April 1807
Commissioned	8 May 1809
Captured	4 December 1810
United Kingdom
Name	Junon
Acquired	4 December 1810 by capture
Out of service	1817
General characteristics
Class and type	Consolante-class frigate
Displacement	1320 tonnes
Tons burthen	109183⁄94 (bm)
Length	48.75 metres (159.9 ft)
Beam	12.2 metres (40 ft)
Draught	5.9 metres (19 ft)
Propulsion	Sail
Armament	Battery: 28 x  18-pounder guns QD and Fc: 12 x  8-pounder guns
Armour	Timber

French service

Bellone, under the command of Guy-Victor Duperré, departed Saint-Malo on 18 January 1809, bound for the Indian Ocean. She sailed from La Réunion for a combat patrol in August. On 2 November she captured HMS Victor. Twenty days later, she captured the 48-gun Portuguese Minerva after a 2-hour battle. Bellone sailed back to La Réunion with her prize, arriving on 2 January 1810.

In April 1810, the squadron comprising Bellone, Minerve and Victor departed for another patrol, during which they fought the action of 3 July 1810 and the Battle of Grand Port.

Bellone was surrendered to the British when Île de France fell, on 4 December 1810.

British service

Bellone was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Junon.

In June 1812, Junon escorted a convoy from Portsmouth to India.

On 8 February 1813, nine boats and 200 men of the squadron of which Junon was part captured the letter of marque schooner Lottery. Lottery was of 210 tons burthen (bm), copper-bottomed and fastened, and carried six 12-pounder carronades, though she was pierced for 16 cannon. Her crew put up a strong defense with the result that the British cutting out party suffered six men wounded, half severely or dangerously, one of whom died later; Junon herself suffered two men wounded. The Americans suffered 19 men wounded, including their captain, John Southcomb, before they struck. Southcomb died of his wounds and his body was taken ashore. Lottery had been carrying a cargo of coffee, sugar and lumber from Baltimore to Bordeaux. A week later Lottery convoyed several prizes to Bermuda. The Royal Navy took Lottery into service as HMS Canso.

In June 1813, Junon's boats raided the James River, and she sustained an attack by US gunboats.

On 3 April 1814, as she sailed with HMS Tenedos, she encountered the USS Constitution, which fled at all sail, dropping drinking water and food overboard, and eventually making it to Marblehead harbour.

Junon, Maidstone, Arab, and Curlew, shared in the detention, on 23 November of Firmina, of 260 tons (bm), Antonio Jose Fereira, master. She had been sailing from Boston to Amelia Island in ballast. The Vice admiralty court in Halifax restored her to her owners.

References

• Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome deuxième : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826) [1]
• Maclay, Edgar Stanton (1900). A history of American Privateers. Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. OCLC 606621677.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671–1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 71. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France. Vol. 4. Challamel ainé. pp. 152–153.
• Vice-Admiralty Court, Halifax (1911). American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute. hdl:2027/mdp.39015070578847.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.