La Minerve, then French, being captured by the British Dido

38-gun 5th rate Frigate

• Launched in France in 1794.
• Captured by the Dido and Lowestoffe on the 24th June 1795.
• Recaptured by the French in 1803.
• Recaptured again by the British in 1810.
• Nelson served in her as a Commodore from Dec 1796 - 13th Feb 1797.

Career:

• 14th March 1795: Fought in the Action off Genoa (when Nelson in the Agamemnon captured the Ça Ira).  (Capt. Charles Tyler)
• 13th July 1795: Fought at the Battle of Hyères Islands (see the Agamemnon for more details of both these battles).  (Capt. Charles Tyler)
• 1796: With Nelson's squadron (with Nelson in the Agamemnon).
• December 1796: When the French and Spanish fleets combined, the British were forced to withdraw from the Mediterranean.  Admiral Jervis sent Nelson in the Minerve, along with the Blanche, to evacuate British troops from Porto-Ferrajo on the island of Elba.  On the way, they defeated two Spanish frigates, Santa Sabina and Ceres, but were forced to abandon their prizes when more Spanish ships arrived.  Nelson did manage to take the captain of the ship prisoner, and he turned out to be Don Jacobo Stuart, great-grandson of the English King James II.  Nelson later exchanged him for the British lieutenants Hardy and Culverhouse, who had been taken prisoner.
• 14th Feb 1797: Fought at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.  (Capt. Charles Henry Towry)
• Oct 1799: Some of her seamen were court-martialled for mutinous expressions.
• 1800: Became a troop ship, and landed troops at Aboukir Bay.  (Capt. Sir Thomas Livingston)
• 1825: Became a receiving ship.