HMS Concorde ( 1783 ) The Concorde was a 32 - gun frigate of the French Navy , lead ship of her class . Built in Rochefort in 1777 , she entered service with the French early in the American War of Independence , and was soon in action , capturing in the West Indies . She survived almost until the end of the war , but was captured by in 1783 . Not immediately brought into service due to the draw - down in the navy after the end of the war , she underwent repairs and returned to active service under the White Ensign with the outbreak of war with France in 1793 as the fifth - rate HMS " Concorde " . Initially part of squadrons cruising off the French coast , she played an important part in the Action of 23 April 1794 , capturing the French frigate " Engageante " , and at a later engagement , where she helped to capture the French frigate " Virginie " . From 1797 until the early 19th century she had especial success against privateers , capturing a large number in the West Indies and in the Atlantic . She had a narrow escape from a superior French force in 1801 , but was able to batter her pursuer , the 40 - gun " Bravoure " into submission . She was prevented from capturing her by the arrival of French reinforcements . Her last years were spent on a variety of stations , including at the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies . Laid up in 1807 , she was sold for breaking up in 1811 . Construction and French career . " Concorde " was one of a three - ship class of " Concorde " - class frigates built for the French Navy to a design by Henri Chevillard . She was built at Rochefort between April 1777 and January 1778 , being launched on 3 September 1777 . She went out to the West Indies after the French entry to the American War of Independence , and reached Martinique on 17 August 1778 . On 28 August 1778 she came up on the 32 - gun , under Captain John Stott , and after two and a half hours of fighting , captured her . " Minerva " was towed to Cap Français on Saint - Domingue , where she was joined shortly afterwards by the captured , which had been dismasted in a hurricane in late August and was taken on 1 September by the French frigates " Charmante " and " Dédaigneuse " . In 1781 " Concorde " was responsible for vital transfers of personnel , funds , and communications that contributed to the allied success at Yorktown . In March 1781 she carried despatches to George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau from France . These despatches included a request from the comte de Grasse , commander of the West Indies fleet , for information on planned allied operations and the delivery of pilots familiar with the American coast . She also carried 6 million livres to support the war effort , and the new commander of the French naval squadron at Newport , Rhode Island , the comte de Barras . Following a conference of allied leaders in May , " Concorde " was sent to Cap - Français with despatches for de Grasse and the requested pilots . When de Grasse received these despatches , he made the critical decision to sail his fleet to the Chesapeake Bay to assist in land operations against British forces operating under the command of Charles Cornwallis in Virginia . " Concorde " carried de Grasse ' s letters for Washington , Rochambeau , and de Barras back to Newport ; arrival of this news set in motion Washington ' s march to Virginia and the eventual entrapment of Cornwallis at Yorktown . On 15 February 1783 she was sighted by the 74 - gun , under Captain Robert Linzee . " Magnificent " had sailed from Gros Islet Bay on 12 February on a cruise in company with the 64 - gun ships and , and on sighting the strange sail , " Magnificent " gave chase . She was close enough to identify the mysterious ship as a frigate by 18 : 00 , and by 20 : 00 as darkness fell " Concorde " opened fire on her pursuer with her stern guns . " Magnificent " overhauled the French ship by 21 : 15 , and after fifteen minutes forced her to strike her colours . " Magnificent " took possession of " Concorde " , the latter being described as carrying 36 guns and 300 men , and being under the command of M . le Chevalier du Clesmaur . Shortly after surrendering the " Concorde " s maintopsail caught fire , forcing the crew to cut away the mainmast to extinguish it . " Prudent " and " St Albans " came up two hours later and " Magnificent " towed " Concorde " to St . John ' s , Antigua . Interwar years . " Concorde " was bought into the navy and commissioned in the West Indies for a return to Britain later in the year , though her commander for this voyage is unknown . She arrived in Britain and was paid off in September at Chatham . With the end of the American War of Independence and the draw - down in the navy , " Concorde " was not brought into immediate service but remained laid up at Chatham until November 1790 , when a great repair was begun by Wilson , of Frindsbury . The work , which cost a total of £18 , 259 , was completed by April 1793 , by which time the French Revolutionary Wars had broken out . She was fitted for service at Chatham between April and May 1793 , at a cost of £6 , 600 , and was commissioned in April under Captain Thomas Wells . Cruising the French coast . In 1794 she passed to Captain Sir Richard Strachan , and joined Commodore John Borlase Warren ' s squadron off the French coast . The squadron consisted of " Concorde " , Warren ' s 36 - gun , the 38 - gun under Captain Sir Edward Pellew , and the 36 - gun frigates , under Captain Thomas Wells , and , under Captain George Murray . " Concorde " and " Engageante " . While sailing off the Channel Islands on 23 April the British squadron came across a French squadron under Commodore Desgareaux consisting of the 36 - gun " Engageante " , the 44 - gun " Pomone " , the 36 - gun " Résolue " and the 24 - gun " Babet " . Warren chased and engaged them , leading the attack in " Flora " . When the " Flora " was badly damaged from the combined fire from the French ships , the remaining British ships came up in support , and forced the rear - most French ships , " Babet " and " Pomone " , to surrender . " Melampus " , " Nymphe " and " Concorde " gave chase to the fleeing " Résolue " and " Engageante " . Strachan in " Concorde " attempted to damage the rearmost of the French ships , " Engageante " , before pushing on to chase " Résolue " , but the " Résolue " dropped back to support the " Engageante " , damaging " Concorde " s sails and rigging . With " Nymphe " and " Melampus " still too far astern , and unable to catch " Résolue " himself , Strachan engaged " Engageante " and after 105 minutes of fighting , forced her to surrender , while " Résolue " made her escape . The " Concorde " lost one man killed and 12 wounded in the fighting . " Concorde " and " Virginie " . " Concorde " was then assigned to Rear - Admiral George Montagu ' s squadron in May 1794 , and took part in the manoeuvres during the Atlantic campaign of May 1794 . Strachan left " Concorde " in July 1794 to take command of HMS " Melampus " , and in August Captain Anthony Hunt took over command of " Concorde " . " Concorde " was part of John Warren ' s squadron off Quiberon between June and July 1795 , supporting the Quiberon Expedition , after which she joined Sir Edward Pellew ' s squadron . On 20 April 1796 Pellew ' s squadron , then consisting of " Concorde " , Pellew ' s 38 - gun and the 36 - gun under Captain Robert Carthew Reynolds , spotted and chased a mysterious sail . After chasing her for 15 hours over 168 miles they caught up with her , with " Indefatigable " leading the attack . Both ships exchanged fire , considerably damaging each other , upon which " Concorde " came up under her stern and forced her to surrender . She was discovered to be the 40 - gun " Virginie " , under Captain Jacques Bergeret . The captured French ship was towed to port and taken into the navy . Later years . Command of " Concorde " passed from Hunt to Captain Richard Bagot in November 1796 , and he in turn was succeeded by Captain Batholomew Roberts in June 1797 . " Concorde " captured the 4 - gun privateer " Poisson Volant " off Cape Finisterre on 24 July 1797 . She was bound from Bordeaux to Guadeloupe carrying wines and merchandise , after which she intended to cruise as a privateer in the West Indies . " Concorde " was later commanded by Captain Robert Barton , who took a number of privateers in a series of cruises in the West Indies in 1798 , capturing the 16 - gun " Caye du Pont " off St Bartholomew on 3 January , the 8 - gun " Proserpine " off Montserrat on 8 January , the 8 - gun " Hardi " off Barbuda on 11 February , the 2 - gun " Hazard " off Montserrat on 13 February and the 2 - gun " Rosière " off Montserrat on 1 April . In an action with on 8 and 9 September she captured four privateers , the 8 - gun " Buonaparte " , 10 - gun " Amazone " , 4 - gun " Sauveur " and 2 - gun " Fortune " . " Concorde " s success against privateers continued with the capture of the 18 - gun " Prudente " on 14 February 1799 and the 6 - gun " San Josef " off Oporto in December 1800 and the 1 - gun " San Miguel el Volante " on 1 December 1800 . " Concorde " had a narrow escape from a French squadron under Rear - Admiral Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume , which had sailed from Brest on 23 January 1801 . The French sighted " Concorde " off Cape Finisterre on 27 January , and the 40 - gun " Bravoure " was sent to chase her down . " Concorde " cast off a Swedish ship she was towing and drew the French frigate away from the main body of the fleet . Barton then turned and engaged her for forty minutes , silencing her guns . By now the main French fleet was fast approaching , and with his sails and rigging damaged , Barton did not attempt to take possession of " Bravoure " and instead made for a British port to report the encounter . " Concorde " had four men killed and 19 wounded in the engagement , while " Bravoure " had 10 killed and 24 wounded . Captain John Wood succeeded Barton in 1802 , and the following year " Concorde " went out to the Cape of Good Hope . On 7 November 1804 , she captured the 360 - ton privateer " Fortune " , under François - Thomas Le Même , after a ten - hour running battle . Captain John received his prisoners " with distinction " and " Concorde " returned to Bombay , although " Fortune " , reduced to a poor condition , limped for several days before arriving . She was under Captain John Cramer , probably from February 1806 , and was in the East Indies in 1807 , where in July that year she captured the 2 - gun privateer " Vigilant " . " Concorde " returned to England and was paid off in September 1807 . She spent the rest of the war laid up , and was sold at Deptford on 21 February 1811 . Notes . a . " Concorde " s sisters were the " Hermione " and " Courageuse " . " Hermione " was wrecked in 1793 , while " Courageuse " was captured during the Siege of Toulon , but was retaken in the fall of the city to the French . She was retaken by the British while sailing in the Mediterranean in 1799 and taken into the navy . b . Stott was badly wounded in the engagement , losing a piece of his ear , and his hearing and eyesight to the resulting swelling . A ball remained lodged in his head , and he died shortly aftwerwards on Hispaniola . A young Horatio Nelson was serving in the West Indies at the time , and wrote to his friend and patron William Locker about the captures , noting that William Williams , commander of " Active " had also died shortly afterwards , apparently of a broken heart . The heavy British losses at the time speeded Nelson ' s own promotion , and he was made master and commander of the brig on 8 December 1778 . C . " Minerva " was retaken on 4 January 1781 and was renamed HMS " Recovery " . " Active " spent the rest of her career with the French Navy , until being condemned and broken up in November 1794 . D . This was not Strachan ' s first encounter with " Résolue " . While serving in the East Indies in command of the 36 - gun in November 1791 Strachan received orders to stop and search a French convoy , escorted by " Résolue " , which was believed to be carrying supplies for the support of Tipu Sultan , whom the British were then fighting in the Third Anglo - Mysore War . The " Résolue " resisted and a brief action took place before the French surrendered . As Britain and France were not at war , " Résolue " was then restored to the French .