HMS Rainbow (1809)
| History | |
|---|---|
 France
|
|
| Name: | Iris |
| Ordered: | 19 February 1803 |
| Builder: | Dunkirk, plans by Brelocq, revised by Sané |
| Laid down: | 19 February 1805 |
| Launched: | 11 October 1806 |
| Commissioned: | 1 October 1808 |
| Captured: | 3 January 1809 |
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | HMS Rainbow |
| Builder: | Dunkirk |
| Acquired: | February 1809 by capture |
| Fate: | Sold 1815 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Iris-class corvette |
| Displacement: | 756 tons (French) |
| Tons burthen: | 587 17⁄94 (bm) |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 32 ft 5 in (9.9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 10 ft 1 1⁄2 in (3.1 m) |
| Complement: |
French service:140 British service:173 |
| Armament: |
|
French service:140
Iris was a 20-gun corvette of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1809 and took her into service as HMS Rainbow. She was sold in 1815.
Iris was built to plan by Louis Bretocq, a plan that Jacques-Noël Sané altered. However, Bretocq probably acted as cosntructeur. Construction did not begin until some two years after the order, and Iris was then on the stocks for some three years.
The French Navy commissioned Iris on 31 December 1808, under capitaine de fregate Charles Méquet (or Joseph-Jean Macquet, or Miquet). She left Dunkirk 29 January 1809 with 640 casks of flour for Martinique. En route, on 2 February at 11am she encountered HMS Aimable, under Captain Lord George Stuart, while off the Texel on the Wellbank. A 28-hour chase ensued, followed by a short running fight 38 leagues off Aberdeen. In the action Iris lost two men killed and eight wounded, and Aimable lost one man killed and one wounded. Iris then struck.Iris was brought into Yarmouth roads in early February. Lloyd's List reported that she had been captured on 4 February, and that at the time of the encounter she had been in company with a brig.
Iris arrived at Woolwich on 14 March 1809. There the Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Rainbow and proceeded to fit her out until 23 August. The British upgraded her armament, turning her into a 28-gun sixth rate. Commander James Woolridge commissioned her in August. He then sailed her for Jamaica on 24 November.
On 13 March 1810, Rainbow encountered the French frigate Néréide, under the command of Jean-François Lemaresquier, off Point Abaco. Though Néréide was almost twice the size of Rainbow, Lemaresquier was uninterested in getting into an engagement. Next morning though, Avon, under Commander Henry Fraser, joined the chase. Lemaresqueir continued to flee to separate the two British ships, but stopped to engage Rainbow after Avon had fallen back. He soon had reduced Rainbow to a battered state, but Avon resolutely came in support and put a 30-minute fight against the much stronger Néréide before herself retreating. Rainbow suffered ten men wounded; Avon had one man killed, one mortally wounded, and seven wounded. The French account is that damage on Néréide prevented her from giving chase. Lemaresquier therefore continued on his course, reaching Brest on 30 March. The British account is that Néréide declined to continue the action, despite the damaged state of the two British ships, and instead sailed on. The two British ships then made for Jamaica as best they could, arriving on the 16th.
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