French frigate Rubis (1812)

For other ships with the same name, see French ship Rubis.

The Rubis was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy.

Clorinde, sister-ship of French frigate Rubis (1812)
History
France
Name	Rubis
Namesake	Ruby
Ordered	21 October 1809
Builder	Antoine Crucy, Basse-Indre, nr Nantes[1]
Laid down	June 1810
Launched	25 May 1812
Commissioned	7 August 1812
Fate	Burnt 5 February 1813
General characteristics
Class and type	Pallas-class frigate
Displacement	1,080 tonnes
Length	46.93 m (154 ft 0 in)
Beam	11.91 m (39 ft 1 in)
Draught	5.9 m (19 ft 4 in)
Propulsion	1,950 m2 (21,000 sq ft) of sail
Complement	326
Armament	Nominally 40 guns In practice carried either 44 or 46 guns: Battery: 28 18-pounders Quarterdeck & forecastle: 8 × 8-pounder long guns 8 × 36-pounder carronades or 12 × 18-pounder carronades

On 25 November 1812, under Commander Louis-François Ollivier, Rubis sailed from Nantes along with Aréthuse (Captain Pierre Bouvet) to intercept British trade off West Africa. In January, having captured a Portuguese ship, La Serra, they reached Cap-Vert.^[2]

On 27 January 1813, Aréthuse intercepted the brig HMS Daring (Lieutenant Pascoe) off Tamara. Released prisoners reported the presence of the French frigates, prompting the departure of HMS Amelia (Captain Frederick Paul Irby).

In the night of 5 February, a storm hit Rubis and Aréthuse while at anchor; both frigates broke their cables and Rubis was thrown ashore, while Aréthuse managed to sail clear of the coast into open water. Efforts to refloat her the next day proved futile, and she was abandoned by her crew, who embarked on the prize Serra, and scuttled by fire. Aréthuse fought the action of 7 February 1813 with HMS Amelia the next day, and after the stalemate with her opponent, returned on the site of the wreck to repatriate the crew to France.^[3]

References

1. Rif Winfield and Stephen S Roberts, French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2015. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.
2. William James, The Naval History of Great Britain from the declaration of war by France in February 1793 to the accession of George IV in January 1820 : with an account of the origin and progressive increase of the British Navy (New edition in Six volumes), Volume VI, pp183-190, R Bentley, London, 1837.
3. Les bâtiments ayant porté le nom de Rubis Archived 2009-11-16 at the Wayback Machine