HMS Concorde (1783)

Concorde and Engageante, depicted at the action of 23 April 1794
History
France
Name	Concorde
Builder	Rochefort
Laid down	April 1777
Launched	3 September 1777
Completed	January 1778
Captured	By the Royal Navy on 15 February 1783
Great Britain
Name	HMS Concorde
Acquired	15 February 1783
Fate	Sold on 21 February 1811
General characteristics
Class and type	32-gun fifth-rate frigate
Tons burthen	888 82⁄94 bm
Length	142 ft 11 in (43.6 m) (overall) 118 ft 10 in (36.2 m) (keel)
Beam	37 ft 6 in (11.4 m)
Depth of hold	11 ft 7 in (3.53 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	220
Armament	(as HMS Concorde) Upper deck: 28 × 12-pdrs Quarter deck: 4 × 6-pdrs + 6 × 24-pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 6-pdrs + 2 × 24-pdr carronades (From 1793 all 6-pdrs were all replaced by 24-pdr carronades, later reinstated)

Concorde was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. Built in Rochefort in 1777, she entered service with the French early in the American War of Independence and was soon in action, capturing HMS Minerva in the West Indies. She survived almost until near the end of the war when HMS Magnificent captured her in 1783. Not immediately brought into service due to the draw-down in the navy after the end of the war, Concorde underwent repairs and returned to active service with the outbreak of war with France in 1793 as the fifth-rate HMS Concorde.

Initially part of squadrons cruising off the French coast, she played an important part in the action of 23 April 1794, capturing the French frigate Engageante. At a later engagement she helped capture the French frigate Virginie. From 1797 until the early 19th century she had especial success against privateers, capturing a large number in the West Indies and in the Atlantic. She had a narrow escape from a superior French force in 1801, but was able to batter her pursuer, the 40-gun French frigate Bravoure, into submission; only the arrival of French reinforcements saved Bravoure from capture. Concorde spent her last years on a variety of stations, including at the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies. She was laid up in 1807 and sold for breaking up in 1811.