French brig Furet (1801)

Furet was an Abeille class 16-gun brig of the French Navy.

She took part in the battle of Trafalgar, after which she found herself blockaded in Cadiz. Four French frigates and Furet took refuge at Cadiz, where they remained into February 1806. To try to lure them out, Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood pulled his ships-of-the-line ten leagues out to sea, leaving only the frigate HMS Hydra (1797), under the Captain George Mundy, and the brig-sloop HMS Moselle (1804) in close blockade. On 23 February a strong easterly wind drove the British off their station, which led the French commander, Captain La Marre La Meillerie, to seize the opportunity to escape. On the evening of 26 February Hydra and Moselle were three leagues west of the Cadiz lighthouse when they sighted the French vessels. Mundy began firing rockets and alarm guns to alert Collingwood, while sailing parallel to the escaping French squadron. Mundy then sent Carden in Moselle to try locate the British fleet. On the morning of 27 February Moselle reached Collingwood, who despatched three frigates to try to catch the French. In the meantime, Hydra had managed to isolate the French brig from her companions, and after a two-hour chase, captured the Furet. The French frigates did not come to their brig's aid, and after firing a pro forma broadside, Furet surrendered. Furet was armed with eighteen long 9-poundeer guns, and had a crew of 130 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Demay. She was provisioned for a cruise of five months. Under the rules of prize-money, Moselle shared in the proceeds of the capture of Furet. During the next six months, Lamellerie's frigate squadron cruised the Atlantic, visiting Senegal, Cayenne and the West Indies, but failed significantly to disrupt British trade.