HMS Surprise (1796)

The ship was originally made ​​as Unité by the French Navy in 1794 as a corvette in service and was the lead ship of her class. The Unité was applied in 1796 by the Royal Navy and renamed HMS Surprise. It became known as the ship that in 1799 the HMS Hermione and their mutinous crew kidnapped a Spanish port and served as a template for the same frigate in the novels of Patrick O'Brian.

History as a French Unité

The Unité was built by Pierre -Alexandre forfeit in Le Havre, was launched on January 16, 1794 from the pile and was armed with eight 24 -pounders and 8 long 4- pounders. She took part in the battle on 13 Glorious First and escorted the entmastete Revolutionaire in the harbor. On April 20, 1796, the Unité was provided and applied prior to Annaba from the British HMS Inconstant.

History as a British HMS Surprise

The Unité was renamed HMS Surprise and made available as 28- gun frigate in service. 1797 the ship was stationed in Jamaica and came in January 1798 again in the yard to Plymouth. There, the armament was replaced in 24 32 - pounder carronades, 10 18- pounder carronades and 2 long 4- pounder guns; the hull was covered with copper. Achieved fame HMS Surprise for the recapture of HMS Hermione. The crew of the Hermione had mutinied and withdrew by boat in the Spanish port of Puerto Cabello. The captain of the Surprise led a Kapermannschaft on boats in the harbor, and carried in a rather bloody raid the remaining crew Hermione and under the fire of the Spanish Fort The HMS Surprise was made in February 1802 out of service.

HMS Surprise in literature and film

Patrick O'Brian used in several of his books, the frigate HMS Surprise as for Jack Aubrey. In the film Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World a " HMS Surprise " is also shown; a replica that is in the meantime to visit the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Also it is to be found in the film Pirates of the Caribbean 4 as HMS Providence, under the command of Captain Barbossa.