|
The ''Atalante'' was a 40-gun ''Virginie'' class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1802. In 1803 ''Atalante'' cruised in the Indian Ocean under ''capitaine de frégate'' Gaudin, in the squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois, whose mission was to re-take the colonies of the Indian Ocean, given to English at the peace of Amiens. The fleet included the 74-gun ship of the line ''Marengo'', the frigates ''Atalante, ''Belle Poule'', and ''Sémillante'', and troop ships and transports with food and ammunition. At the beginning of November, the division set sail for Batavia to protect the Dutch colonies. En route, Linois destroyed the English counters in Bencoolen, capturing five ships, and sailed for the South China Sea, where the China Fleet of the British East India Company was expected. During the operation he despatched ''Atalante'' to Muscat. Linois's squadron, without ''Atalante'', met the British East India Company's China Fleet in the Battle of Pulo Aura. The greater numbers and aggressive action of the British East Indiamen, some of whom flew Royal Navy flags, drove the French away. Linois returned to Batavia. He dispatched ''Atalante'' and ''Belle Poule'' to the Gulf of Bengal, where ''Belle Poule'' captured a few ships before returning to Ile de France. ''Atalante'' cruised with ''Belle Poule'', taking numerous prizes between June 1804 and early 1805, notably the East Indiaman ''Athias'' and the ''Heroism''. ''Atalante'' was also engaged at the Battle of Vizagapatam in September 1804. ==Fate== On 3 November 1805, as she was moored near the Cape of Good Hope under Captain Gaudin-Beauchêne, she was washed ashore by a gust of wind and wrecked. She was later refloated. Troude reports that by 7 November she had been refloated and repaired. Accounts now differ. One account has it that she was found irreparable and was written off as a total loss. However, Commodore Sir Home Popham, in a letter published in the ''London Gazette'', reported ”French Ship Atalante, of 40 Guns, and Batavian Ship Bato, of 68 Guns: Destroyed by the Enemy running them on Shore when the Cape was attacked, January 10, 1806.” 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「French frigate Atalante (1802)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|