HMS Eclair

Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Eclair:

• The first Eclair was a French "barque latine", launched on 5 July 1771, re-classed as a corvette in 1783.^[1] Between 22 June and 24 September 1792 she sailed to Malta, Tunis, and the Îles d'Hyères while under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Basterot de La Barrière.^[2] She was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Roubaud when HMS Leda and HMS Illustrious captured her on 16 June 1793, south of Marseilles.^[3] The Royal Navy took her into service as a 22-gun post-ship. She became a powder hulk in April 1797 and was sold in 1806.
• The second Eclair was a 3-gun gunvessel captured from the French in 1795. She was converted to a schooner before sailing to the West Indies in 1796. She was renamed Safety in 1802 and hulked. Safety was listed as a guardship in the West Indies in 1808 and as prison ship in 1810. She then reappeared as a receiving hulk at Tortola in 1841. She was finally broken up in 1879.
• The third Eclair was a 10-gun schooner. Under the command of enseigne de vaiseau Sougé she sailed to Basse-Terre. Garland, a tender to Daphne, captured her in the anchorage at Grande-Anse, les Saintes in 1801.^[4] Eclair was renamed Pickle in 1809 and sold in 1818.
• The fourth Eclair was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop launched in 1807 and broken up in 1831.
• The fifth Eclair, was originally the 6-gun sloop Infernal. Infernal was renamed Eclair in 1844 but then renamed Rosamund in 1846; Rosamund became a floating factory in 1863 and was finally broken up in 1865.

Citations

1. Demerliac (1996), p.30, #118.
2. Fonds, Vol. 1, p.33.
3. Fonds, Vol.1, p.52.
4. Fonds, Vol. 1, p.259.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3
• Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 209 (1790–1804)
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.