HMS Trompeuse

Three ships of Britain's Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Trompeuse, after the French word for "deceptive":


 * HMS Trompeuse (1794) was a former French 16-gun brig-sloop that HMS Sphinx captured on 12 January 1794 near Cape Clear Island and that grounded off Kinsale on 15 July 1796. At the time of her loss all her crew were saved.
 * HMS Trompeuse (1797) was a former French 18-gun privateer originally called Mercure, possibly captured in 1797. She was commissioned in September 1799 and foundered on 17 May 1800 in the English Channel. All her crew were lost.
 * HMS Trompeuse (1800) was a former French 18-gun sloop captured on 4 March 1800 and broken up in 1811. Some references imply that Trompeuse was the name of the captured sloop, but it appears that she was the privateer Coureur, which HMS Révolutionnaire (1794) captured on that date. Coureur was pierced for 18 cannon but carried ten 6-pounder guns and four carronades; she had a crew of 158 men. She was 20 days out of Nantes on her first cruise and had captured "His Majesty's Ship" Princess Royal, probably a hired armed vessel, which had been sailing to Tortola. The captain and most of the crew of Princess Royal were on board Coureur. Captain T. Twysden of Revolutionnaire described Coureur as being "quite new,..., Copper-bottomed, and sails delightfully."