HMS St Fiorenzo ( 1794 ) The Minerve was a 40 - gun frigate of the French Navy , lead ship of her class . She operated in the Mediterranean during the French Revolutionary Wars . She was scuttled at Saint - Florent to avoid capture when the British invaded Corsica in 1794 , but the managed to raise her and recommissioned her in the Royal Navy as the 38 - gun fifth rate HMS " St Fiorenzo " ( also " San Fiorenzo " ) . She went on to serve under a number of the most distinguished naval commanders of her age , in theatres ranging from the English Channel to the East Indies . During this time she was active against enemy privateers , and on several occasions she engaged ships larger than herself , being rewarded with victory on each occasion . She captured the 40 - gun " Résistance " and the 22 - gun " Constance " in 1797 , the 36 - gun " Psyché " in 1805 , and the 40 - gun " Piémontaise " in 1808 . ( These actions would earn the crewmembers involved clasps to the Naval General Service Medal . ) Conversion into a number of roles then followed . She initially became a troopship , then a receiving ship , and lastly , a lazarette . She was finally broken up in 1837 after a long period in the latter role . French career . The French built " Minerve " at Toulon , laying her down on 10 February 1782 and launching her on 21 July 1782 . She was the lead ship of her class . " Minerve " began her career in the Mediterranean , in particular operating in the Levant campaign from 1790 to 1791 . In March 1793 she and " Melpomène " escorted from Toulon to Algiers two xebec s that the French had outfitted for the Dey . On " Minerve ’ s " return to Toulon her commander was arrested following an insurrection on board . On 18 February 1794 , her commander scuttled her before the British under Sir David Dundas captured the town of San Fiorenzo ( San Fiurenzu or Saint - Florent , Haute - Corse ) in the Gulf of St . Florent in Corsica . ( Other accounts suggest that gunfire from British shore batteries sank her . ) The British found " Minerve " on 19 February 1794 , and were able to refloat her . They then took her into service as a 38 - gun frigate under the name " St Fiorenzo " . British career . Service in the Channel . She was initially under the command of Captain Charles Tyler , but passed under Captain Sir Charles Hamilton in July 1794 . Hamilton sailed her back to Chatham , where she arrived on 22 November and was registered as a Royal Navy ship on 30 May 1795 . She was then commissioned in June that year under Captain Sir Harry Neale . Neale was to command her for the next five years . " St Fiorenzo " was among the 25 British warships in the fleet under the command of Admiral John Colpoys that shared in the capture on 2 November 1796 of the French privateer " Franklyn " . Twenty - six days later , " St Fiorenzo " was in company with when they captured the French brig " Anne " . At some point , " St Fiorenzo " also captured the brig " Cynthia " . Capture of " Résistance " and " Constance " . On 9 March 1797 " St Fiorenzo " was sailing in company with Captain John Cooke ' s , when they sighted two sails heading for Brest . These turned out to be the French frigate " Résistance " and the corvette " Constance " , returning from the short - lived , quixotic and unsuccessful French raid on Fishguard in Wales , where they had landed troops . Cooke and Neale chased after them , and engaged them for half an hour , after which both French ships surrendered . There were no casualties or damage on either of the British ships . " Resistance " had ten men killed and nine wounded ; " Constance " had eight men killed and six wounded . " Resistance " had 48 guns , with 18 - pounders on her main deck , and a crew of 345 men . " Constance " had twenty - four 9 - pounder guns , and a crew of 181 men . The Royal Navy took both into service . " Résistance " became , while retained her name . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General service Medal with clasp " San Fiorenzo 8 March 1797 " to surviving claimants from the action . Channel . " St Fiorenzo " was one of the ships caught up in the mutiny at the Nore , but was one of the few ships to remain loyal to her commander . She subsequently escaped to Harwich after enduring musket and grapeshot fire from the mutinous ships that left four of the crew wounded . Further successes followed later that year . She captured the French privateer lugger " Unité " off The Owers on 3 June 1797 . " Unité " was armed with 14 guns and had a crew of 58 men commanded by Citizen Charles Roberts . She was three days out of Morlaix without having captured anything . Then on 1 July " St Fiorenzo " captured the French privateer lugger " Castor " off the Scilly Isles . " Castor " too had been armed with 14 guns , all of which she had thrown overboard during the chase in an attempt to lighten herself and so gain speed , and had a crew of 57 men . She was 18 days out of Saint Malo and in that time had captured the brig " Resolution " , which had been carrying a cargo of salt . " St Fiorenzo " and shared in the capture in November and December 1797 of the French brigs " Minerva " and " Succes " . In addition to the capture of the privateer " Succes " on 14 December , " St Fiorenzo " and " Clyde " captured the privateer " Dorade " two days later . The actual captor of " Dorade " was " Clyde " . " Dorade " was from Bordeaux and was pierced for 18 guns , though she only had 12 . She had been out 50 days and had been cruising off the Azores and Madeira , but had captured nothing . She and her crew of 93 men were on their way home when " Clyde " captured her . Unfortunately , the commander of the prize crew hoisted too much sail with the result that " Dorade " overturned , drowning all 19 members of the prize crew . " St Fiorenzo " , and shared in the recapture of the American brig " Betty " on 16 February 1798 . On 9 March " St Fiorenzo " recaptured the brig " Cynthia " . Almost a month later , on 7 April , " St Fiorenzo " , in company with " Impetueux " , recaptured the " Ulysses " . On 23 May " St Fiorenzo " captured the pram ( chasse maree ) " Maria " . two days later , " St Fiorenzo " and " Impetueux " captured the ship " Fair American " . On 1 June , she added the brig " Zeniphe " to her list of captures , and then six days later , two empty sloops . , " St Fiorenzo " , and shared in the capture of the French sloop " Marie Catharine " . " St Fiorenzo " , " Phaeton " , " Anson " and " Stagg " shared in the proceeds of the capture on 23 June of the " Jonge Marius " . That same day " Phaeton " captured the " Specuulation " ; " San Fiorenzo " s officers entitled to first or second - class shares in prize money shared by agreement . On 29 June , and chased a French frigate . " Pique " and " Jason " chased her down and captured her in the Breton Passage on 30 June 1798 , after an engagement in which the French suffered some 170 men killed . The French vessel was the , which the Royal Navy took into service under her existing name . In the fight " Jason " , " Pique " and " Seine " ran aground . " Mermaid " arrived and retrieved " Jason " , but " Pique " had to be destroyed . " St Fiorenzo " too arrived and was instrumental in recovering " Seine " . On 9 November , " St Fiorenzo " captured the French privateer " Resource " . Head money for the men on the privateer and salvage for the " Cynthia " in March was paid in February 1810 . On 11 and 12 December 1798 " St Fiorenzo " and captured and sent into Plymouth the Spanish privateer " St Joseph y Animas " and the French privateer " Rusée " , and recaptured the brig " George " , of London , which had originally been sailing from Bristol to Lisbon , loaded with a cargo of coals , copper , and bottles . " St Joseph y Animas " was armed with four brass 6 - pounder guns and had a crew of 64 men . " Rusée " was coppered and just off the stocks she carried fourteen 4 - pounder guns and a crew of 60 . Neale recommended that the Navy take her into service . On 15 December " St Fiorenzo " captured the Spanish brig " Nostra Senora Del Carmen y Animas " . In late 1798 or early 1799 , " San Fiorenzo " , , , " Clyde " , " Mermaid " , and , shared in the capture of the chasse maree " Marie Perotte " and a sloop of unknown name , as well as the recapture of the " Sea Nymphe " and the " Mary " . On 9 March 1799 , " St Fiorenzo " and " Clyde " captured the French sloop " St Joseph " . Three days later " Triton " , " St Fiorenzo " , and captured the French merchant ship " Victoire " . On 9 April 1799 , after reconnoitering two French frigates in L ' Orient , " St Fiorenzo " and HMS " Amelia " sailed towards Belle Île . Conditions were hazy and although Neale had sighted some vessels , it was only when he had passed the island that he discovered three French frigates and a large gun vessel . At that instant a sudden squall carried away " Amelia " s main - top - mast and fore and mizzen top - gallant masts ; the fall of the main - top - mast tore away much of the mainsail from the yard . Neale shortened " St Fiorenzo " s sail and ordered " Amelia " to keep close to " St Fiorenzo " to maintain the weather gage , and to prepare for battle . An action commenced but the French vessels avoided close - quarter action and , although the British ships came under fire from shore batteries , they had to bear down on the French three times to engage them . After nearly two hours the French wore ship and sailed away to take refuge in the Loire , with the gun - vessel returning to Belle Île . " Amelia " lost two killed and 17 wounded in the engagement . " St Fiorenzo " lost one man killed and eighteen wounded . That evening " St Fiorenzo " captured a French brig and learned that the French frigates were the " Vengeance " , " Sémillante " and " Cornélie " . The British further learned that " Cornélie " had lost some 100 men dead and wounded , with one of the wounded being her commodore . Later reports mentioned that Captain Caro of " Vengeance " had been mortally wounded and that " Sémillante " had 15 dead . Then on 13 April , " St Fiorenzo " captured the French ship " Entreprenant " . On 17 April " St Fiorenzo " returned to Plymouth , bringing with her a French brig that she had captured . The French vessel had been sailing from San Domingo to Lorient with a cargo of sugar and coffee . " St Fiorenzo " had also captured another French brig , sailing in ballast , but she had not yet arrived . That same month " St Fiorenzo " captured the Prussian brig " Vrou Helena Catherina " . On 2 July 1799 " St Fiorenzo " took part in an attack on a Spanish squadron anchored in the Aix Roads . On 13 November 1800 " St Fiorenzo " and " Cambrian " recaptured the merchantman " Hebe " , which the 18 - gun French privateer " Grande Decide " had captured about a week earlier . Captain Charles Paterson took over command in January 1801 , serving in the Mediterranean . " St Fiorenzo " , " Loire " , , , , and hired armed cutter " Swift " shared in the capture on 11 and 12 August 1801 of the Prussian brigs " Vennerne " and " Elizabeth " . On 30 September 1801 " St Fiorenzo " captured the schooner " Worcester " . In May 1802 Captain Joseph Bingham succeeded Paterson . He would serve as " St Fiorenzo " s commander until 1804 . East Indies . Bingham sailed to the Cape of Good Hope , and spent the next couple of years operating in the Indian Ocean . On 14 January 1804 " St Fiorenzo " gave chase to the French naval chasse - marée and aviso " Passe - Partout " off Mount Dilly on the Malabar Coast . When the wind began to fail , Bingham sent three of his boats after the quarry . Once alongside , in two minutes the British had captured the French vessel , despite fire from two brass six - pounder guns , six brass swivel gun s and small arms . Out of her 25 - man crew , " Passe - Portout " had two dead and five seriously wounded , including the captain , who was mortally wounded ; the British suffered only one man slightly wounded . Bingham discovered that the French had outfitted " Passe Partout " to land three officers on the coast to incite the Mahratta states to attack the British . Bingham passed on the intelligence with the result that the British at Poona were able to capture the Frenchmen . Bingham ' s successor was Captain Walter Bathurst , who commanded " St Fiorenzo " in 1805 . Captain Henry Lambert ( acting ) , replaced Bathurst . On 13 February 1805 " St Fiorenzo " found the French frigate " Psyché " and two vessels that looked like merchantmen , off Vishakhapatnam . On the evening of the 14th , " St Fiorenzo " recaptured one of the merchantmen , the " Thetis " , which was a prize to " Psyché " and which the French had abandoned . He put a prize crew aboard her and then engaged the other two vessels . After a fierce battle of more than three hours , Captain Bergeret , the French commander of " Psyché " , sent a boat to announce that she had struck her colours . She had lost 57 men killed and 70 men wounded ; " St Fiorenzo " had 12 killed and 56 wounded . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " San Fiorenzo 14 Feby . 1805 " to any surviving claimants from the action . During the engagement the third vessel , " Equivoque " , occasionally intervened , firing at " St Fiorenzo " . She was a privateer of ten guns and a crew of forty men under the command of a lieutenant . She was the former local ship " Pidgeon " , which Bergeret had captured and fitted out as a privateer . She escaped . Lambert was promoted to another command . Captain Patrick Campbell then commanded " St Fiorenzo " between 1806 and 1807 . Capture of the " Piémontaise " . " St Fiorenzo " s next commander was Captain George Nicholas Hardinge , who on 6 March 1808 encountered the 50 - gun French frigate " Piémontaise " , which had been raiding British shipping off the Indian coast . " Piémontaise " was under the command of Captain Jacques Epron and had sailed from Île de France on 30 December with a crew of 366 Frenchmen , together with almost 200 lascars to work the sails . Hardinge was patrolling when , after having passed three East Indiamen , he spotted a frigate that would not identify itself . " St Fiorenzo " sailed towards the Frenchman , who attempted to escape . " St Fiorenzo " chased the " Piémontaise " for the next several days , with intermittent fighting as the French turned to engage their pursuer , before sailing away again . On 7 March the British lost eight men killed and suffered many wounded , two of whom died later . " St Fiorenzo " finally brought " Piémontaise " to a decisive battle late on 8 March in the Gulf of Mannar , where after an hour and twenty minutes of fierce fighting , the French surrendered . French losses amounted to 48 dead and 112 wounded , while over the three days the British lost 13 dead and 25 wounded . Captain Hardinge was among the dead , killed by grapeshot from the second broadside in the last engagement . Lieutenant William Dawson took command and brought both vessels back to Colombo , even though " Piémontaise ' s " three masts fell over her side early in the morning of the 9th . " Piémontaise " also had on board British army officers and captains and officers from prizes that she had taken . These men helped organize the lascars to jury - rig masts and bring " Piémontaise " into port . " St Fiorenzo " had too few men and too many casualties and prisoners to guard to provide much assistance . On 29 November 1809 , His Majesty George III granted to the Hardinge family an augmentation to their coat of arms commemorating both the victory over " Piemontaise " and Hardinge ' s earlier victory over " Atalante " . The merchants , shipowners , and underwriters of Bombay voted the sum of £500 to be " distributed to the Sufferers in the Action on the 8th March 1808 " . Sixteen men died without receiving their portion and the grantors paid for a notice in the " London Gazette " calling on the relatives of the men to claim their shares . When for eight seamen and marines no one had forward for the money by September 1818 the Treasury agreed to hold £160 in trust ( £20 per man ) should any relative come forward later . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " San Fiorenzo 8 March 1808 " to any surviving claimants from the action . Hardinge ' s successor was Captain John Bastard , who commanded " St Fiorenzo " until she was paid off later in 1808 . Later career and fate . " St Fiorenzo " was then fitted out at Woolwich for service in the Baltic , under the command of Henry Matson . She took part in the Walcheren Campaign in 1809 . Her crew therefore qualified for the prize money from the expedition . " St Fiorenzo " was then refitted as a 22 - gun troopship and sent to Lisbon under Commander Edmund Knox . She was further fitted in 1812 , this time to serve as a receiving ship at Woolwich , before being laid up in ordinary at Chatham . Her final service was as a lazarette at Sheerness , where she remained between 1818 and 1837 . She was broken up at Deptford in September 1837 , after 43 years with the Royal Navy .