French corvette Dragon

The French corvette Le Dragon was the last vessel lost by France during the American Revolutionary War. She was the former Liverpool privateer brig Dragon captured in the English Channel by the French frigate The Friponne on 12 August 1781. The British had acquired her off the Canadian coast on 31 May 1778 by capture. She was at that time the American privateer brigantine Washington, built at Beverly, Massachusetts on 17 September 1776.

Le Dragon, on her second voyage to the West Indies, was surrounded and threatened by Admiral Hood's large British squadron. Her commander, the young Chevalier de l'Espine, had no other solution than grounding his vessel between the reefs of Monte-Christi roads, Haïti and scuttling her to avoid capture by the enemy. He could then bring his crew, his precious spy-passenger and his secret mail to Cape François, Santo Domingo on 22 January 1783, a few days before the end of the war.

Description
As built, the vessel had three masts and measured 112 tons burthen builder's old measurement. The ship had a keel length of 72 ft and a beam of 11 ft. The ship had a complement of 101 in French service, 75 in British service and 81 in American service. Originally, the vessel was armed with 12 guns, a mix of 6-pounder and 8-pounder guns along with swivel guns. After being taken into British service, Dragon was armed with 14 6-pounder guns and in French service this was increased to 16 9-pounder guns.