French fluyt Étoile (1767)
Ship of the French Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Étoile (French: [etwal]; "Star") was an 18th-century fluyt of the French Navy. She was originally a merchantman named Placelière and was purchased by the Navy while still on the stocks. She was renamed Étoile in April 1763 and re-classed as a corvette. She is famous for being one of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's ships in his circumnavigation between 1766 and 1769, along with Boudeuse.
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Étoile |
| Namesake | "Star" |
| Builder | Nantes shipyard[1] |
| Laid down | 1759[1] |
| Launched | 1762[1] |
| Acquired | 4 August 1762[1] |
| In service | August 1762[1] |
| Out of service | 1780[1] |
| Fate | Hulked 1780, last mentioned 1789 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Fluyt used as storeship |
| Displacement | 480 tonnes |
| Length | 33.8 m (111 ft) |
| Beam | 9.1 m (30 ft) |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Capacity | 8 officers and 108 men |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | timber |
Career
Étoile was originally built between 1759 and 1762 as a fluyt named Placelière and was purchased while still on the stocks for King Louis XIV's Navy on 4 August 1762.[1] She was pierced for 20 guns.[2]
Étoile sailed to Rochefort on 22 December 1763.[1]
On 15 November 1766, Étoile departed Saint-Malo, along with Boudeuse, for an exploration voyage under Bougainville.[1] She was under Chenard de la Giraudais, and was the storeship of the expedition. She carried naturalist and physician Philibert Commerçon, astronomer Pierre-Antoine Veron, and Jeanne Baré, who was recognised as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation. During much of the voyage, Baré was disguised as a man.[3][4]
In January 1771, Étoile was at Ile d'Aix under Cramahé.[1] In April, she was at Brest.[1]
On 1 January 1773,[5] Denis de Keredern de Trobriand was given command of Étoile in Lorient.[6] Between 1773 and 1777, she sailed to China and in the Indian Ocean.[1] In 1775, she was in Borneo, where Trobriand was offered two islands for France, the largest one being Lemukutan. Étoile surveilled the South-Western coast of Borneo. [7] During the voyage, Étoile received orders to mount a punitive expedition against Pangaram Serip, King of Koti, at the mouth of the Mahakam River, in retaliation for the massacre of the crew of the merchantman Épreuve.[8] Étoile attacked the port held by Pangaram Serip, along with the frigate Indiscrète, under Boucault, and Badine, under Le Veyer de Beuzidou,[8] destroying or capturing 31 ships, and killing around 300 people.[5]