French corvette Faune (1804)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Fawn.

1/36 scale model of Cygne, sister-ship of Faune, on display at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris
History
France
Name	Faune
Namesake	The Faun
Ordered	22 August 1803
Builder	Louis, Antoine, & Mathurin Crucy, Basse-Indres, Nantes
Laid down	February 1804
Launched	8 July 1804
Captured	15 August 1805
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Fawn
Namesake	The young of the deer
Acquired	15 August 1805 by capture
Fate	Disappears from records after 1806
General characteristics
Class and type	Abeille-class Brig
Displacement	158/290 tons (French; unladen/laden)
Tons burthen	c.325 (bm)
Length	c. 95 ft (29 m) (overall); c. 75 ft (23 m) (keel)
Beam	c. 28 ft (8.5 m)
Depth of hold	c. 7 ft (2.1 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Brig
Complement	French: 94 British: 121 (British establishment)
Armament	French: 16 × 6-pounder guns British: 14 × 24-pounder carronades + 2 × 6-pounder bow chasers

Faune was a French naval Abeille-class brig-corvette launched in 1804 to a design by François Pestel in 1803. She participated in the capture of HMS Blanche in July 1805. The Royal Navy captured Faune in August 1805. She was taken into service as HMS Fawn, but the last record of her dates to 1806. In 1807 the Royal Navy launched a new HMS Fawn.

Career

On 19 July 1805 Faune was part of a squadron of four vessels that captured Blanche off Puerto Rico, three days after they had left Martinique. The other three were the 40-gun French frigate Topaze, the 22-gun corvette Department des Landes, and the 18-gun Torche. Faune was under the command of Lieutenant Charles Brunet.

About one month later, Faune, still under the command of enseigne de vaisseau Brunet, was carrying dispatches from Fort-de-France to Saint-Nazaire via Saint-Martin-de-Ré. When she was southwest of Ouessant, on 15 August, she had the misfortune to encounter HMS Camilla. Camilla chased Faune for nine hours before capturing her at 45°18′N 7°36′W. The 74-gun, third rate Goliath was in the Channel Fleet when she saw a sail to eastward and three sail to westward. Goliath sailed east and joined the chase, helping Camilla to capture Faune. Faune was armed with 16 guns and had on board 98 men. She also had on board as prisoners 22 men from Blanche.

After Goliath helped Camilla capture Faune, Goliath set off in chase of the other three French vessels. Raisonnable joined Goliath and they were able to capture Torche, but Topaze and Department-des-Landes escaped. The Royal Navy later took Torche into service as HMS Torch

Captain Robert Barton of Goliath sent Faune into Portsmouth with Camilla. Barton reported that Faune was a new ship, on her first voyage, from Martinique, extremely fast, and would make a good addition to the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy took Faun into service as HMS Fawn. However, after 1806 there are no records of her.

References

• Duncan, Archibald (1806). The British trident; or, Register of naval actions, from ... the Spanish armada to the present time. J. Cundee.
• Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier: BB210 à 482 (1805-18826) [1]
• 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.
• Walters, Samuel (1949) Memoirs of an Officer in Nelson's Navy. (Liverpool University Press).
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1861762467.
• Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015) French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 - 1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. (Seaforth Publishing). ISBN 9781848322042