French Ship Belle Poule (1765)
Fight of Arethusa and the Belle Poule |
|
| Career (France) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Belle Poule |
| Namesake: | Paule de Viguier, baronne de Fonterville |
| Builder: | Bordeaux shipyard |
| Laid down: | March 1765 |
| Launched: | 18 November 1766 |
| Commissioned: | Early 1767 |
| Captured: | 16 July 1780 by the Royal Navy |
| Career (Great Britain) | |
| Name: | HMS Belle Poule |
| Acquired: | 16 July 1780 |
| Out of service: | 1798 |
| Fate: | Broken up in 1801 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Dédaigneuse-class frigate |
| Displacement: |
650 tonnes (empty) |
| Length: | 43 metres |
| Beam: | 11.2 metres |
| Draught: | 4.9 metres |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 8 officers + 260 men |
| Armament: | 26 × 12-pounder guns + 4 × 6-pounder guns |
Belle Poule was a French frigate of the Dédaigneuse class, which Léon-Michel Guignace built. She is most famous for her duel with the English frigate Arethusa on 17 June 1778, which began the French involvement in the American War of Independence.
Read more about French Ship Belle Poule (1765): 1768 – 1778, 1778 – 1801, Capture, British Service, Fate
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