French ship La Bienvenue (1788)

La Bienvenue was a 20-gun French warship launched at Le Havre in 1788. She briefly became La Royalist in October 1792 before reverting to her original name in January the following year. She was serving as a prison ship at Martinique when she was captured by the British in 1794.

Construction
La Bienvenue was a 20-gun French flûte designed by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait and built by the renowned French ship builders Gouet and Deros. She was constructed in the port of Le Havre on the north coast of France between November 1787 and June 1788, and launched on 7 May 1788. She was 699 tons burthen and her French measurements, as built were; 130 ft (length) x 31 ft (beam) x 15 ft 7in (depth). This equates to the modern metric dimensions of 42.2 m x 10.1 m x 4.9 m. Initially La Bienvenue was armed with 20 x 8 pounders (livre de Paris)

Career (France)
After setting sail from Mauritius for France in December 1791, La Bienvenue was seized by her crew and handed over to the British. She was subsequenty taken by French Royalist forces on 4 October 1792 at St Kitts and was renamed Royaliste. Reverting to her previous name in January 1793, she served as a prison ship at Martinique from July that year until her capture.

Invasion of Martinique
On 5 February 1794, a British fleet under Sir John Jervis and escorting 7,000 troops under Sir Charles Grey, arrived at the island of Martinique. In spite of the strong opposition from the occupying forces and difficult terrain, the whole island was under British control by 28 February, save for two forts covering the town of Fort Royal. A siege was conducted by both British Army and Royal Navy forces, supported by gunfire from Jervis' fleet which was now occupying the harbour. On the 20 March, British Grenadiers and Light Infantry took the town while British sailors attacked and occupied the coastal fort. The landward fort surrendered a few days later. It was on 17 March 1794, during the occupation of the harbour and just prior to the landings, that La Bienvenue was taken.

Career (Great Britain)
After her capture, La Bienvenue was appointed a prize crew under Captain Robert Faulkner. She was subsequently commanded by Captain James Carpenter, then on the 4th May she was handed to the newly promoted post-captain, Henry William Bayntun. La Bienvenue was later taken to England, arriving at Sheerness on 24 September. She was registered and renamed HMS Undaunted 30 March 1795 and sold at Deptford on 24 July having served only 16 months as a British ship.