French frigate Junon (1786)

Junon was a 40-gun Minerve class frigate of the French Navy.

French service
Junon was commissioned in the French Navy under Captain d'Ettry on 2 May 1786. She took part in the naval review given to honour Louis XVI in Cherbourg on 24 June 1786.

In late 1790, under Lieutenant Villeneuve d'Esclapon, she prepared to sail from Toulon, but never departed. In June 1792, Junon escorted merchantmen from Toulon into the Atlantic Ocean under Lieutenant Terras de Rodeillac.

In December 1792, she ferried Ambassador Sémonville to Constantinople, before returning to cruise off Sardinia, notably supporting the landing of French troops on 14 January 1793.

From 26 August 1793, she was under the command of Lieutenant Le Duey, in Marseille. From there, she escorted a convoy of merchantmen to Toulon, sailed to cruise in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Antibes, conducted reconnaissance of thecoasts of Provence, and returned to Toulon. Lieutenant Villeneuve d'Esclapon replaced Le Duey on 25 December 1793; Villeneuve was promoted to Captain before 16 August 1794.

From August 1795 to January 1796, Junon cruised in consort with Sérieuse in the Mediterranean.

In the fleet of Toulon, Junon took part in the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, running aground upon her arrival at Abukir. Repaired in Alexandria, under Captain Pourquier, Junon became part of the Syrian naval station under Rear-admiral Perrée. She ferried artillery and ammunition of the French Army besieging Acres.

HMS Centaur captured Junon in the Action of 18 June 1799. The Royal Navy recommissioned her as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS Princess Charlotte.

British service
In 1812, Princess Charlotte was renamed HMS Andromache.

The American ship Mount Hope, which had been sailing from Georgetown to Cadiz when a French privateer captured her, arrived at Plymouth on 12 May 1813, after Andromache recaptured her. A later account has the capture taking place on 5 May, Mount Hope's voyage as starting in Charlestown, and her cargo as rice. Her captors were HMS Andromeda (1812), rather than Andromache, and Surveillante and HMS Iris (1807).

On 14 March 1814 Andromache captured the Baltimore letter of marque Courier, off Nantes. Courier, of 251 tons (bm), was armed with six 12-pounder carronades and had a crew of 35 men under the command of Captain Robert Davis.

Two weeks later, on 2 April, HMS Sealark (1811) and Andromache captured the American ship Good Friends. The privateer Cerberus was in sight.

Post script to the war
In January 1819, the London Gazette reported that Parliament had voted a grant to all those who had served under the command of Lord Viscount Keith in 1812, between 1812 and 1814, and in the Gironde. Andromache was listed among the vessels that had served under Keith in 1813 and 1814. She had also served under Kieth in the Gironde.

Fate
HMS Andromache was sold for scrap and dismantled in Deptford in 1828.

Notes, citations and references

 * Notes;


 * Citations


 * References
 * Cranwell, John Philips, and William Bowers Crane (1940) Men of Marque: A History of Private Armed Vessels out of Baltimore During the War of 1812. (New York: W.W. Norton).
 * Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826)
 * Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 482 (1790-1826)