French corvette Sans Pareille (1798)

Sans Pareille

History
France
Name:	Sans Pareille
Builder:	La Ciotat[1]
Laid down:	1797
Launched:	1798[1]
Captured:	20 January 1801
History
UK
Name:	Delight
Acquired:	20 January 1801 by capture
Fate:	Sold April 1805
General characteristics [1][2]
Displacement:	480 tons (French)
Tons burthen:	335  ^67⁄94 (bm), or 280 (French; "of load")
Length:	97 ft 5 in (29.69 m) (overall) 77 ft 3 in (23.55 m) (keel)
Beam:	28 ft 7 in (8.71 m)
Depth of hold:	8 ft 2 in (2.49 m)
Complement:	French service:148, but 15 at capture British service:100
Armament:	French service: 18 x brass 9-pounder guns + 2 x 36-pounder obussiers (at capture) British service: 18 x 24-pounder carronades

Sans Pareille was a privateer that the French Navy purchased off the stocks in 1797 or 1798, and that was launched in 1798. The Royal Navy captured her in 1801 off Sardinia, but laid her up when she reached Britain in 1802. She was sold in 1805.

Capture

On 20 January 1801, HMS Mercury was some 40 leagues off Sardinia when she captured Sans Pareille after a chase of nine hours. She was a French navy corvette under the command of Citoyen Gabriel Renault, lieutenant de vaisseau. She carried 18 long brass 9-pounders and two howitzers. The reason she did not resist was that she had a crew of only 15 men. She had sailed from Toulon the day before and was carrying a cargo of shot, arms, medicines, and all manner of other supplies for the French army at Alexandria, Egypt.^[3] The Admiralty took Sans Pareille into service as HMS Delight.

HMS Delight

It is not clear when the Royal Navy commissioned Delight. Commander the Honourable Frederick Aylmer was formally appointed to command Delight on 13 July 1802.^{[Note 1]}

On 11 September Delight arrived at the Motherbank and promptly went into quarantine. She had made the transit from Gibraltar in 15 days. Five days later she sailed eastward to be paid off.^[5]

Fate

Delight arrived at Plymouth on 19 September where she was paid-off and laid-up. The Principal Officers and Commissioners of the Navy first offered the "Hull of His Majesty's Sloop Delight", at Plymouth for sale on 20 March 1805.^[6] Delight sold there in April.^[2]

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

1. The notice is dated at Whitehall,^[4] but this was probably a confirmation. He may have taken command in early 1802.^[2] Aylmer was later the 6th Baron Aylmer.

Citations

1. Winfield and Roberts (2015), p. 174.
2. Winfield (2008), p.319.
3. The London Gazette: no. 15347. p. 323. 21 March 1801.
4. Naval Chronicle, Vol. 8, p.87.
5. Naval Chronicle, Vol. 8, p.263.
6. The London Gazette: no. 15788. p. 338. 12 March 1805.

References

• Marshall, John (1823–1835) Royal naval biography, or, Memoirs of the services of all the flag-officers, superannuated rear-admirals, retired-captains, post-captains, and commanders, whose names appeared on the Admiralty list of sea officers at the commencement of the present year 1823, or who have since been promoted ... (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown).
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 1-86176-246-1.
• Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 - 1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing). ISBN 9781848322042