French ship Recherche (1787)
The Recherche was a 20-gun Marsouin-class scow of the French Navy, later reclassified as a 12-gun frigate. She earned fame as one of the ships of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux' expedition, along with Espérance. Recherche Bay in Tasmania was named after her.
 The Recherche and Espérance, by François Roux | |
| History | |
|---|---|
  France | |
| Name: | Recherche |
| Namesake: | Research |
| Builder: | Bayonne |
| Laid down: | March 1787 |
| Launched: | October 1787 |
| Christened: | Truite |
| Commissioned: | November 1787 |
| Out of service: | September 1794 |
| Reclassified: | Frigate in 1791 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Marsouin class |
| Type: | scow |
| Displacement: | c. 400 tonnes |
| Length: | 36.4 m (119 ft) |
| Beam: | 9.1 m (30 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.9 m (13 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement: | 200 |
| Armament: | 12 6-pounders |
| Armour: | Timber |
Career
The ship was built as Truite and served under this name until July 1791, when she was renamed to Recherche and recommissioned as a 12-gun frigate.
She departed from Brest on 29 September 1791 for an exploration mission in search of Lapérouse, sailing to New Caledonia. Bruni d'Entrecasteaux died aboard on 21 July 1793.
Fate
On 28 October 1793, Recherche was captured by the Dutch at Surabaya, only to be returned to France in February 1794. She was sold to Holland in September and sold for scrap two months later.
Sources and references
- Jean-Michel Roche, Dictionnaire de la flotte française de 1671 à nos jours, Tome I, p. 372