Abeille class brig

Updated on Nov 14, 2023

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Name Abeille Completed 19 Displacement 350 tonnes		In commission 1800 - 1847 Cancelled 2

Operators French Navy Royal Navy

The Abeille class was a type of 16-gun brig-corvette of the French Navy, designed by François Pestel with some units refined by Pierre-Jacques-Nicolas Rolland. They were armed with either 24-pounder carronades, or a mixture of light 6-pounder long guns and lighter carronades. 21 ships of this type were built between 1801 and 1812, and served in the Napoleonic Wars.

The four first ships were ordered in bulk on 24 December 1800, but two (Mouche, Serin) could not be completed due to shortags of timbers. As the forerunner of the series, Abeille, is not always identified as such in British sources, the type is sometimes referred to as the Sylphe class, after Sylphe, which served as model for subsequent constructions.

Ships

Mouche

Builder: Toulon Begun: 24 December 1800 Launched: Completed: Fate: Never completed due to lack of timber.

Abeille

Builder: Toulon Begun: 24 December 1800 Launched: 24 June 1801 Completed: 21 May 1801 Fate: Hulked in 1844, renamed Molène and used as an achor depot in Brest in 1865

Furet

Builder: Toulon Begun: September 1801 Launched: 24 December 1801 Completed: 25 February 1802 Fate: Captured by HMS Hydra on 27 February 1806

Serin

Builder: Toulon Begun: 1802 Launched: Completed: Fate: Never completed due to lack of timber.

Faune

Builder: Nantes Begun: 1803 Launched: 8 July 1804 Completed: Fate: Captured by HMS Goliath on 2 August 1805 and commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Fawn

Néarque

Builder: Caudan, Lorient Begun: 15 June 1804 Launched: 27 April 1804 Completed: 13 July 1804 Fate: Captured by HMS Niobe on 28 March 1806.

Sylphe

Builder: Dunkerque Begun: June 1803 Launched: 10 July 1804 Completed: 29 September 1804 Fate: Captured by HMS Comet on 18 August 1808, commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Seagull

Adonis

Builder: Genoa (Italy) Begun: April 1805 Launched: 18 August 1806 Completed: 21 November 1806 Fate: Broken up in 1823

Cygne

Builder: Le Havre Dockyard Begun: 28 April 1806 Launched: 12 September 1806 Completed: Fate: Ran aground and scuttled by fire to avoid capture

Écureuil