Built at Lorient, this frigate had a distinguished record of service: barely a
year after being launched she defeated the English frigate Quebec in a
famous single-ship action. La Surveillane is now the focus of a major Irish
underwater archaeology project, having been designated a National
Monument in 1985.
In 1765 at Bordeaux, the shipwright Guignace built La Belle Poule,
establishing the standard for his later frigates, including la Surveillante.
Research on La Belle Poule by the French maritime historian Jean Boudriot
has enabled this model to be built. By 1780 only 12 French Navy ships, all
frigates, are known to have had their hulls sheathed with copper. One of thee
was la Surveillante, coppered during a refit in May 1779.
| Wolf Tone | Armada
| 1796 | La Surveillane
| Hoche |
|
