page_title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration
section_title: 1824–1826: Le Thétis and L'Espérance
hierarchical_section_title: European and American voyages of scientific exploration / Maritime exploration in the Age of Enlightenment / Chronology of voyages / 1824–1826: Le Thétis and L'Espérance
caption_attribution_description: English: Model of the 44-gun frigate Thétis.
context_page_description: The era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration followed the Age of Discovery and were inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arose in the Age of Enlightenment. Maritime expeditions in the Age of Discovery were a means of expanding colonial empires, establishing new trade routes and extending diplomatic and trade relations to new territories, but with the Enlightenment scientific curiosity became a new motive for exploration to add to the commercial and political ambitions of the past. See also List of Arctic expeditions and List of Antarctic expeditions.
context_section_description: A mission to establish diplomatic relations with Indochina and make geographical observations. On 12 January 1825, Hyacinthe de Bougainville led an embassy to Vietnam with Captain Courson de la Ville-Hélio, arriving in Da Nang, with the warships Thétis and L'Espérance. Although they had a 28 January 1824 letter from Louis XVIII, the ambassadors could not obtain an audience with Minh Mạng.
  Captains: Hyacinthe de Bougainville (1781–1846) (Le Thétis) and Paul de Nourquer du Camper (L'Espérance)
  Surgeon-naturalist: François Louis Busseuil (1791–1835)
caption: 1813 model of the frigate Thétis in the Musée National de la Marine (Rochefort).
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