French frigate Hébé (1782)
Hébé was a 38-gun of the French Navy, lead ship of the . The British Royal Navy captured her in 1782 and took her into service as HMS "Hebe". She was renamed HMS "Blonde" in 1805. French Navy career. Soon after her commissioning under Captain de Vigny, "Hébé" was tasked to escort a convoy from Saint Malo to Brest and protect shipping from the depredations of the British Royal Navy in the context of the Anglo-French War. In the action of 4 September 1782, she was chased by the frigate HMS "Rainbow", whose 32-pounder  chase guns shot away her wheel and mortally wounded her second captain, Yves-Gabriel Calloët de Lanidy. The weight of the ball made de Vigny mistake "Rainbow" for a disguised ship of the line. Even though the first shots had shown that "Rainbow"s guns had a shorter range than "Hébé"'s stern chasers, de Vigny never altered his course to take advantage of the longer range of his guns by firing back a full broadside. Later in the morning, the foremast of "Hébé" was seriously damaged and another man killed. An hour and a half later, when "Rainbow" was about  to come alongside, de Vigny could only fire his four of five most rear port guns and immediately struck his colours. British Royal Navy career. The Royal Navy took "Hébé" into service first as HMS "Hebe". In December 1784 "Hebe" captured "Rover", a smuggling lugger, off the Isle of Wight. "Rover" had a cargo of 2000 casks of spirits and a quantity of tea. She had come from Flushing and "Hebe" took her into Portsmouth. On 3 July 1795 "Melampus" and intercepted a convoy of 13 vessels off St Malo. "Melampus" captured an armed brig and "Hebe" captured six merchant  vessels: "Maria Louisa", "Abeille". "Bon Foi", "Patrouille", "Eleonore", and "Pecheur". The brig of war was armed with four 24-pounders and had a crew of 60 men. Later she was identified as the 4-gun "Vésuve". The convoy had been on its way from Île-de-Bréhat to Brest. , and the cutter shared in the prize and head money. The Royal Navy took "Vésuve" into service as . Because "Hebe" served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal, which the Admiralty  issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants from the campaign. On 24 December 1805, the Navy renamed "Hebe" HMS "Blonde". On 15 August 1807, "Blonde", Captain Volant Vashon Ballard, captured "Dame Villaret" after a chase of 13 hours. She was armed with an 18-pounder gun and four 9-pounder carronades, and had a crew of 69 men. She had been out twenty days but had taken no prizes. Fate. The Royal Navy paid off "Blonde" in July 1810. She was eventually broken up at Deptford in June 1811. Notes, citations, and references. Notes Citations References French frigate Hébé (1782