French fluyt Étoile (1767)

Étoile ("Star") was a fluyt of the French Navy. She was originally a merchantman named Placelière and was purchased by the Navy while still on the stocks. She was renamed Étoile in April 1763 and re-classed as a corvette. She is famous for being one of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's ships in his circumnavigation between 1766 and 1769, along with Boudeuse.

History
France
NameÉtoile
Namesake"Star"
BuilderNantes shipyard [1]
Laid down1759 [1]
Launched1762 [1]
Acquired4 August 1762 [1]
In serviceAugust 1762 [1]
Out of service1780 [1]
FateHulked 1780, last mentioned 1789
General characteristics
Class and typeFluyt used as storeship
Displacement480 tonnes
Length33.8 m (111 ft)
Beam9.1 m (30 ft)
PropulsionSail
Capacity8 officers and 108 men
Armament
Armourtimber

Career

Étoile was originally built between 1759 and 1762 as a fluyt named Placelière and was purchased while still on the stocks for King Louis XIV's Navy on 4 August 1762.[1] She was pierced for 20 guns.[2]

Étoile sailed to Rochefort on 22 December 1763. [1]

On 15 November 1766, Étoile departed Saint-Malo, along with Boudeuse, for an exploration voyage under Bougainville.[1] She was under Chenard de la Giraudais, and was the storeship of the expedition. She carried naturalist and physician Philibert Commerçon, astronomer Pierre-Antoine Veron, and Jeanne Baré, who was recognised as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation. During much of the voyage, Baré was disguised as a man.[3][4]

In January 1771, Étoile was at Ile d'Aix under Cramahé.[1] In April, she was at Brest.[1]

On 1 January 1773,[5] Denis de Keredern de Trobriand was given command of Étoile in Lorient.[6] Between 1773 and 1777, she sailed to China and in the Indian Ocean.[1] In 1775, she was in Borneo, where Trobriand was offered two islands for France, the largest one being Lemukutan. Étoile surveilled the South-Western coast of Borneo. [7] During the voyage, Étoile received orders to mount a punitive expedition against Pangaram Serip, King of Koti, at the mouth of the Mahakam River, in retaliation for the massacre of the crew of the merchantman Épreuve.[8] Étoile attacked the port held by Pangaram Serip, along with the frigate Indiscrète, under Boucault, and Badine, under Le Veyer de Beuzidou,[8] destroying or capturing 31 ships, and killing around 300 people.[5]

Fate

In May 1779, she became a prison hulk in Lorient.[1] She is last mentioned in 1789.[2]

Citations
  1. Roche (2005), p. 185.
  2. Demerliac (1996), p. 34, n°156.
  3. Dunmore (2002).
  4. Ridley (2010).
  5. Rouxel.
  6. Archives nationales (2011), p. 208.
  7. Archives nationales (2011), p. 212.
  8. Archives nationales (2011), p. 213.

References
  • Demerliac, Alain (1996). La Marine de Louis XVI: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1774 à 1792 (in French). Éditions Ancre. ISBN 9782906381230. OCLC 468324725.
  • Dunmore, John (2002). Monsieur Baret: First Woman Around the World. Heritage Press. ISBN 0-908708-54-8. OCLC 936276913.
  • Ridley, Glynis (2010). The Discovery of Jeanne Baret. Crown Publisher New York. ISBN 0-307-46352-4. OCLC 1123839539.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)
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