French frigate Psyché (1804)

	Psyche
History
France
Name	Psyché
Namesake	Psyche
Builder	Louis and Antoine Crucy, Basse-Indre yard, near Nantes
Laid down	February 1798
Launched	1798
In service	February 1804
Captured	14 February 1805
United Kingdom
Name	Psyche
Acquired	14 February 1805 by capture
Honours and; awards	Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Java"
Fate	Broken up in 1812
General characteristics
Displacement	Unladen: 623 or 600 tons (French); Laden: 1100 or 800 tons (French);
Tons burthen	846 22⁄94 (bm)
Length	138 ft 6 in (42.2 m) (gundeck); 117 ft 0 in (35.7 m) (keel);
Beam	36 ft 10+1⁄8 in (11.2 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	French service:; Privateer:250, or 339; Naval service:240;
Armament	French service; Privateer: 24 × 12-pounder + 2 × 6-pounder guns + 8 × 36-pounder howitzers; Naval vessel initially: 26 × 12-pounder + 6 × 6-pounder guns + 4 × 36-pounder howitzers; Naval vessel later: 24 × 12-pounder guns + 12 × 12-pounder carronades; British service:; Upper deck: 24 × 12-pounder long guns; QD: 8 × 18-pounder carronades; Fc: 2 × 6-pounder long guns (bow chasers) + 2 × 18-pounder carronades;

Psyché was a 36-gun vessel built between February 1798 and 1799 at Basse-Indre (Nantes) as a privateer. As a privateer she had an inconclusive but bloody encounter with HMS Wilhelmina of the Royal Navy, commanded by Commander Henry Lambert, off the Indian coast in April 1804. The French then brought her into service in June 1804 as the frigate Psyché. In February 1805 she encountered HMS St Fiorenzo, under the command of the same Henry Lambert, now an acting captain. After a sanguinary engagement of over three hours, Psyché surrendered. The British took her into service as HMS Psyche. In British service she captured several prizes and took part in the capture of Mauritius and in an operation in Java. She was broken up at Ferrol in 1812.

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