French Career
Sardine was built to a design by Broquier, who died 26 December 1781. She served in the Mediterranean during the Ancien Régime. In 1792 she was under the command of Lieutenant de vaiseau the chevalier de Bellon de Sainte-Marguerite and served as an escort in the Levant. She was at Smyrna in March, and then cruised the Aegean Sea. Next, she escorted a convoy from Smyrna to Cape Matapan, and then protected French trade between Tripoli (Syria) and Alexandria. Lastly, she escorted a convoy from Cyprus to Marseilles in October.
In August 1793 an Anglo-Spanish force captured Toulon and Royalist forces turned over to them the French naval vessels in the port. When the Anglo-Spanish force had to leave in December, they took with them the best vessels and tried to burn the remainder. Although some reports have the Anglo-Spanish forces capturing her and then leaving her behind, she does not appear on an English list of vessels captured, burnt, or otherwise disposed off.
On 9 December 1795, Sardine was part of Gantaume's squadron. She, the frigate Sensible, and the corvette Rossignol captured the 28-gun HMS Nemesis, which had grounded and after refloating had anchored out of range of the fort in the neutral port of Smyrna. The French warships entered the harbour in disregard of its neutrality and called on Nemesis to surrender, which she did when the French refused to honour the port's neutrality and fired on Nemesis. Three men from Nemesis, a sailor and two Royal Marines, defected to the French and joined Sardine.
Read more about this topic: French Corvette Sardine (1772)
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