Émilie (1793 ship)

History
France
Name:	From 1792: Lafayette From September 1793: Île de France circa May 1794: Modeste From early 1795: Émilie From April 1796: Modeste
Namesake:	Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette; Mauritius (then a French colony named "Île de France"; humility
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	300 tons[1]
Propulsion:	Sail
Complement:	32 men [1]
Armament:	1795: 4 × 6-pounder guns 1796: 20 guns [1]

Émilie a French corvette-built privateer based in Île de France (now Mauritius). She is mostly known as one of the ships captained by Robert Surcouf.

Career

Émilie was originally the merchantman Lafayette, arrived at Île de France from Bordeaux in July 1792. In 1793, she was commissioned as a privateer corvette and conducted a campaign under Jean-François Malroux during the year. In September 1793, she was renamed Île de France and cruised until April 1794 under Léonard-Julien Quiroard.

Around May 1794, she was under Louis Levaillant, carrying the name Modeste. She notably captured the Dutch East India Company ship Hootluyce, with Joachim Drieux leading her boarding party.^[2]

In August 1795, Modeste passed under the command of Robert Surcouf, who renamed her Émilie. Governor Malartic had refused to provide Surcouf a lettre de marque and ordered Émilie to go to the Seychelles to purchase tortoises as food for Isle de France.^[3][4][5] Nevertheless, in January, she captured the pilot ship Cartier; Surcouf transferred to Cartier, renamed Hasard, taking all the guns of Émilie and leaving only 23 men aboard under Jean Croizet.

Returned to Île de France, Émilie was renamed back to Modeste. In August 1796, she set out for another campaign under Claude Deschiens, this time armed with 20 guns. Deschiens was killed in battle on 10 September, and Modeste returned to Île de France. The same month, she set out for another campaign under Jean-Marie Dutertre. She seems to have been captured by HMS Fox near Visakhapatnam in March 1797.^{[1][Note 1]}

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. Demerliac (p. 308, no 2898) states that Modeste was captured either by HMS Fox in March 1797, or by Cleopatra in April 1798; it appears that Cleopatra was in the English channel at the time, when she captured a privateer named Émilie but unrelated to the present ship.

Citations

1. Demerliac, p. 308, no 2898
2. Gallois, vol.2, p. 361
3. Levot, p.494
4. Granier, p.217
5. Cunat, p.392

References

• Cunat, Charles (1857). Saint-Malo illustré par ses marins [Saint-Malo illustrated by her sailors] (in French). Imprimerie de F. Péalat. OCLC 793555867.
• Demerliac, Alain (2003). Nomenclature des navires français (in French). 1792-1799. Nice: Éditions A.N.C.R.E.
• Gallois, Napoléon (1847). Les Corsaires français sous la République et l'Empire (in French). 2. Julien, Lanier et compagnie. (Volume 1 and 2 in a single file)
• Granier, Hubert (1998). Histoire des Marins français 1789–1815 [History of French sailors 1789–1815]. illustrations by Alain Coz. Marines éditions. ISBN 2-909675-41-6. OCLC 468167565.
• Levot, Prosper (1866). Les gloires maritimes de la France: notices biographiques sur les plus célèbres marins [The maritime Glories of France: biographical notes on the most famous sailors] (in French). Bertrand. OCLC 562314991.