Name Atalante Commissioned 1 July 1802 Out of service 3 November 1805 Construction started September 1797 Length 48 m Builder Saint-Malo | Laid down September 1797 In service July 1802 Class and type Virginie class frigate Launched 29 June 1802 Displacement 1.27 million kg | |
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The Atalante was a 40-gun Virginie class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1802.
In 1803 Atalante cruised in the Indian Ocean under capitaine de frégate Gaudin, in the squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois, whose mission was to re-take the colonies of the Indian Ocean, given to English at the peace of Amiens. The fleet included the 74-gun ship of the line Marengo, the frigates Atalante', Belle Poule, and Sémillante, and troop ships and transports with food and ammunition.
At the beginning of November, the division set sail for Batavia to protect the Dutch colonies. En route, Linois destroyed the English counters in Bencoolen, capturing five ships, and sailed for the South China Sea, where the China Fleet of the British East India Company was expected. During the operation he despatched Atalante to Muscat.
Linois's squadron, without Atalante, met the British East India Company's China Fleet in the Battle of Pulo Aura. The greater numbers and aggressive action of the British East Indiamen, some of whom flew Royal Navy flags, drove the French away. Linois returned to Batavia. He dispatched Atalante and Belle Poule to the Gulf of Bengal, where Belle Poule captured a few ships before returning to Ile de France.
Atalante cruised with Belle Poule, taking numerous prizes between June 1804 and early 1805, notably the East Indiaman Athias and the Heroism. Atalante was also engaged at the Battle of Vizagapatam in September 1804.
Fate
On 3 November 1805, as she was moored near the Cape of Good Hope under Captain Gaudin-Beauchêne, she was washed ashore by a gust of wind and wrecked. She was later refloated. Troude reports that by 7 November she had been refloated and repaired. Accounts now differ. One account has it that she was found irreparable and was written off as a total loss.
However, Commodore Sir Home Popham, in a letter published in the London Gazette, reported ”French Ship Atalante, of 40 Guns, and Batavian Ship Bato, of 68 Guns: Destroyed by the Enemy running them on Shore when the Cape was attacked, January 10, 1806.”