French corvette Revenant Revenant ( French : " ghost " ) was a 20 - gun privateer corvette , launched in 1807 , and designed by Robert Surcouf for commerce raiding . Her coppered hull allowed her to sail at up to 12 knots . The French Navy later requisitioned her and renamed her Iéna , after Napoleon ' s recent victory . The British subsequently captured her and she served in the Royal Navy as HMS " Victor " . The French Navy recaptured her in 1809 , and she served for a year under her original name . The British again captured her when they captured Isle de France ( now Mauritius ) in December 1810 . However , they did not restore her to service and she was subsequently broken up . Career . Indian ocean cruises ( 1807 - 1808 ) . On 2 March 1807 , " Revenant " departed from Saint - Malo and sailed for Isle de France , where she arrived on 10 June 1807 , along with several prizes she had taken during her journey . She cruised the Bay of Bengal from September 1807 to 31 January 1808 under Surcouf , capturing the rice ships " Trafalgar " , " Mangles " , " Admiral Alpin " , " Susannah " " Hunter " , " Success " , " Fortune " , " New Endeavour " , " Colonel Macauley " , " William Burroughs " , " Oriente " and " Jean Labdam " . In February 1807 , Surcouf enlisted Potier as first officer on his new privateer " Revenant " . After " Revenant " returned to Port - Louis from her first campaign , on 31 January 1808 , Surcouf gave Potier command of the ship on 2 April . In late April , as " Revenant " was completing her preparations and plotting her route , a prize taken by the privateer " Adèle " gave news of the new war between France and Portugal ; " Adèle " also brought intelligence about the " Conceçáo - de - Santo - Antonio " , a 64 - gun ship of the line armed en flûte , which was in Goa preparatory to sailing for Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon . Surcouf sent Portier to intercept , and " Revenant " departed Port - Louis on 30 April . She arrived in her patrol zone on 17 May and sighted her prey on the 24th . " Revenant " captured " Conceçáo - de - Santo - Antonio " after a one - hour battle . Potier gave " Conceçáo " a prize crew under First Lieutenant Fonroc , and returned to Mauritius one month later with his prize . " Revenant " was then sent back to France " en aventurier " with colonial goods . French naval service . On 4 July 1808 , General Decaen , governor of Isle de France , requisitioned " Revenant " . The government renamed her " Iéna " , and gave command of her to Lieutenant Morice , with " Lieutenant de vaisseau " Albin Roussin as second officer . Surcouf had an altercation with Decaen but had to renounce his ship . Surcouf eventually purchased the " Sémillante " , which he renamed " Charles " , to return to France . Capture by the Royal Navy . " Iéna " set sail to cruise the Persian Gulf and Bay of Bengal . On 8 October 1808 , off the Sandheads near the mouth of the Ganges river , she was chased by the 44 - gun HMS " Modeste " , under Captain George Elliot , which caught the " Iéna " after 9 hours . A night battle followed at musket range ; after two and a half hours , " Iéna " was crippled , dismasted and leaking water , and struck her colours . " Iéna " had no casualties , while " Modeste " had her master killed and a seaman wounded . The Royal Navy commissioned " Iéna " as the 18 - gun ship sloop HMS " Victor " , initially under Commander Thomas Grout and subsequently under Captain Edward Stopford . On 2 May 1809 , she departed from the Sandheads with a convoy of five Indiamen and several smaller vessels . On 24 May a storm split the convoy and " Victor " , the small ships and two of the Indiamen continued without " Streatham " , " Europe " and " Lord Keith " . " Streatham " and " Europe " were captured on 31 May . Recapture by the French Navy . On 2 November 1809 , HMS " Victor " , under Edward Stopford , encountered the 44 - gun frigate " Bellone " , under Guy - Victor Duperré ; " Victor " struck after a brief but spirited resistance . She was taken to Isle de France , where she was repaired and recommissioned as Victor in the French Navy , under Lieutenant Nicolas Morice . On 21 February , she sailed for a cruise in the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel in a squadron under Captain Duperré , on " Bellone " , which also comprised " Minerve " under Pierre Bouvet . There , she took part in the Action of 3 July 1810 , contributing to the capture of the East Indiamen " Windham " and " Ceylon " . Upon their to Isle de France , the French squadron encountered a British frigate squadron attempting to seize the island . In the ensuing Battle of Grand Port , " Revenant " was used as a support ship , behind the French line of battle , as her armament was weaker than that of the more powerful frigates . On 17 – 18 September 1810 , along with " Vénus " , she captured the 40 - gun HMS " Ceylon " . " Vénus " and " Ceylon " were damaged in the battle , and the next day a British squadron composed of HMS " Boadicea " , HMS " Otter " and the brig HMS " Staunch " captured " Vénus " and " Ceylon " ; " Revenant " managed to escape . Fate . The British again captured " Revenant " when Isle de France fell on 3 December 1810 . She was not restored to service but instead was subsequently broken up .