French frigate Loire ( 1797 ) Loire was a 44 - gun frigate of the French Navy . She was captured following the Battle of Tory Island by a Royal Navy frigate squadron and subsequently taken into British service as HMS " Loire " . French service and capture . She took part in the Expédition d ' Irlande , and in the Battle of Tory Island , where she battled , , and . After the battle , " Loire " and " Sémillante " escaped into Black Cod Bay , where they hoped to hide until they had a clear passage back to France . However , late on 15 October , a British frigate squadron under James Newman Newman rounded the southern headland of the bay , forcing the French ships to flee to the north . Pressing on sail in pursuit , Newman ordered " Révolutionaire " to focus on " Sémillante " whilst he pursued " Loire " in , accompanied by the brig under Commander Edward Brace . " Loire " and " Sémillante " separated to divide their pursuers ; " Mermaid " and " Kangaroo " lost track of " Loire " in the early evening , and " Sémillante " evaded " Révolutionaire " after dark . " Mermaid " and " Kangaroo " eventually found " Loire " on 17 October , but after an inconclusive fight that left the British unable to pursue , " Loire " broke off the engagement and escaped . The next day " Loire " again engaged " Kangaroo " and " Anson " , and was forced to strike after she ran out of ammunition . Out of the 664 men , including three artillery regiments and their " Etat - Major " , carried on board " Loire " , 48 were killed and 75 wounded . She was also found to be carrying a large store of clothing , weapons , ammunition and tools for her troops ' intended operations . " Anson " had two men killed and 13 wounded , while the " Kangaroo " appears to have suffered no casualties . British service . HMS " Loire " was commissioned by Captain Frederick Lewis Maitland at Portsmouth in October 1802 . On 27 June 1803 the " Loire " s boats captured the French navy brig " Venteux " while she was anchored close to shore batteries on the Île de Batz . " Venteux " had a crew of 82 men under the command of " lieutenant de vaisseau " Gilles - François Montfort and was armed with four 18 - pounder guns and six 36 - pounder brass carronade s . The " Loire " lost her boatswain and five men badly wounded ; the French lost their second captain and two men killed , and all five remaining officers , including Montfort , wounded , as well as eight other men wounded . In 1847 the Admiralty recognized the action with the clasp " 27 June Boat Service 1803 " to the Naval General Service Medal , awarded to all surviving claimants from the action . The Royal Navy brought " Venteux " into service as " Eagle " , and next year renamed her HMS " Eclipse " . On 17 March 1804 " Loire " sighted a strange vessel on the Irish station and made all sail in pursuit . She came up with and captured what proved to be the French privateer " Braave " , of 14 guns and 110 men . On 16 August 1804 " Loire " gave chase to a suspicious - looking sail . After a chase of 20 hours , including a running fight of a quarter of an hour , during which the British had one midshipman and five men wounded , and the French lost two men killed and five wounded , the latter hauled down her colours . She proved to be French privateer " Blonde " , of Bordeaux , mounting 30 guns , eight - pounders on the main deck , with a crew of 240 men ; the same ship that , about five months earlier , had captured the " Wolverine " . " Loire " took the prize in tow to Plymouth where the prisoners were disembarked on 31 August . On 2 June 1805 boats from " Loire " captured the Spanish privateer felucca " Esperanza " alias " San Pedro " in the Bay of Camarinas , east of Cape Finisterre . She was armed with three eighteen - pounders , four four - pounder brass swivels and a crew of 50 men . " Loire " had only three men slightly wounded . The captured Spanish crew had lost 19 of their 50 men , mostly killed , some however jumped overboard . On 4 June 1805 " Loire " made an attack on Muros . Two French privateer vessels were discovered lying in the bay , including the " Confiance " pierced for 26 guns , twelve - and nine - pounders , although not having them on board . A landing party of 50 men from " Loire " under first lieutenant James Lucas Yeo stormed the town ' s fort ( which was firing its 12 eighteen - pounder guns on the ship ) , slaying the governor and many of the defenders ( including some of the French crews ) and forcing the remainder to surrender . Yeo hoisted the British colours , spiked the guns and rendered the carriages unserviceable . " Loire " had six men slightly wounded in the shore party ( including Yeo ) , with a further nine injured on the ship , one dangerously . The " Confiance " was taken possession of and subsequently brought into service under Yeo ' s command . The second vessel , the " Belier " brig pierced for 20 eighteen - pounder carronades was deemed too unseaworthy to carry away , so Maitland burnt her . The clasp " 4 June Boat Service 1805 " was added to the Naval General Service Medal and issued to surviving claimants in respect of the action . On 24 December 1805 , along with , captured the French , and took her in tow to Plymouth . " Libre " was not purchased into service . On 22 April 1806 , " Loire " captured the Spanish privateer " Princess of Peace " , 14 guns , 23 men . " Loire " was paid off at Deptford in October 1806 . On 21 June 1810 " Loire " and escorted 100 vessels through the Great Belt into the Baltic . War of 1812 . On 10 December 1813 , the " Loire " , commanded by Thomas Smith , captured the Baltimore privateer " Rolla " . On 18 February 1814 , " Loire " encountered the off New York . " Loire " escaped once she realized " President " was a 44 - gun frigate . " Loire " was part of the squadron patrolling the Chesapeake , joining Rear Admiral George Cockburn on 28 April 1814 . Cockburn ' s Chesapeake squadron , consisting of HM Ships " Albion " , , " Loire " , " Jasseur " , and the schooner , took part in a series of raids . After the British failed to destroy the American Chesapeake Bay Flotilla at the Battle of St . Jerome Creek , they conducted a number of coastal raids on the towns of Calverton , Huntingtown , Prince Frederick , Benedict and Lower Marlborough . On 15 June 1814 , a force of 30 Colonial Marines accompanied 180 Royal Marines , in 12 boats , in a raid on Benedict . Nine days later , on 24 June , a force of 50 Colonial and 180 Royal Marines attacked an artillery battery at Chesconessex Creek , although this proved unsuccessful in preventing the escape of the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla , which departed from St . Leonard ' s Creek two days later . Five Royal Marine casualties , from the ship ' s detachment , were suffered during June 1814 . On 7 July , the Loire and the Severn were ordered to cruise the upper Chesapeake , to harass American boats in general , and to attack a steamboat in particular . Although the steamboat was not intercepted , the " Loire " returned on 14 July with ten prizes in tow . The arrival on 19 July of a battalion of Royal Marines , which had left Bermuda on 30 June , enabled the squadron to mount further expeditions ashore . On the morning of 19 July , the battalion landed near Leonardtown and advanced in concert with ships of the squadron , causing the US forces to withdraw . The battalion was deployed to the south of the Potomac , moving down to Nomini . The battalion was subsequently landed at St Clements Bay on 23 July , Machodoc creek on 26th , and Chaptico , Maryland on 30 July . The first week of August was spent raiding the entrance to the Yeocomico River , which concluded with the capture of four schooners at the town of Kinsale , Virginia . Further casualties were suffered in an engagement on 3 August 1814 . The " Loire " sailed to Halifax , arriving on 24 October 1814 . The " Loire " departed from Halifax , as part of a convoy , and arrived in Plymouth on 12 December 1814 . Fate . On 14 October 1817 the Navy Commissioners gave notice in the London Gazette that the " Loire " ( among other ships ) , then lying at Plymouth , would be offered for sale at their offices from the 30th . She was eventually broken up in 1818 .