HMS Fortune (1778)
HMS "Fortune" was a British 14-gun sloop launched in 1778 that was captured by the French in April 1780 and served with the French navy under the same name. Career. The beginning of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War in 1780 effectively put the Dutch Republic on the French side of the Anglo-French War and the War of American Independence. The Dutch expected a British invasion of their Dutch Cape Colony, and France assembled a 5-ship squadron under Suffren to reinforce it. The task force comprised the 74-gun "Héros" (under Suffren himself) and (under  Trémignon), and the 64-gun "Artésien" (under Cardaillac), "Sphinx" (under du Chilleau) and "Vengeur" (under Forbin), as well as the 16-gun corvette "Fortune" (under Lieutenant Lusignan), and seven transports carrying the Régiment de Pondichéry, under Brigadier General Thomas Conway. The squadron departed Brest on 22 March 1781. "Fortune" and "Annibal" were the only two ships in the squadron not to have a copper sheathing. She took part in the Battle of Porto Praya, where she captured the fireship HMS "Infernal"; Suffren then ordered Lusignan to bring orders to the French transports, and he abandoned "Infernal" after taking her captain  and 15 men prisoners. "Infernal" returned to Porto Praya harbour. On 21 August 1782, "Ilustre" and "Saint-Michel" arrived at Batacalo, making their junction with the squadron under Suffren. They were escorting 8 transports and preceded by the corvette "Fortune", under Lusignan. On 20 August 1782, Lusignan was at the vanguard of the French squadron when it departed Batacalo for the Battle of Trincomalee. After the Battle, in early September 1782, Suffren promoted Bouvet de Maisonneuve to the command of "Fortune". In April 1783, after the Peace of Paris brought about a cease-fire between the French and the British , Suffren sent "Fortune" back to France to report on his situation. In October 1783 she became a packet ship under the name "Courrier de Lorient" (and later "Courrier de Lorient No.3"), serving out of Lorient on the line Lorient-New York. In January 1787 she was transferred to the Régie des Paquebots, for whom she served on the Havre-New York line. She was put up for sale at Havre in December 1788 and sold in January 1789 to Mr. Ruellan. Citations and references. Citations References