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Description
TYPE OF BOAT: Frigate
YEAR OF LAUNCH: 1799
COUNTRY OF CONSTRUCTION: France BUILDING
: A shipyard in Bordeaux
HISTORY: Immediately launched in 1799, La Confiance sailed towards the Indian Ocean and the island of France (Mauritius). Upon its arrival in Port Louis, the ship’s co-signatories offered the command to Robert Surcouf, a young privateer from Saint-Malo who had been operating in the Bay of Bengal for four years. The Malouin accepted, but he did his best to perfect the building.
In October 1800, with the Confiance, Surcouf captured the Kent, a large English indiaman of 1,200 tons which also carried 250 soldiers. This glorious feat of arms prompted England to put a price on the corsair’s head. The Kent was brought back to Port Louis, then sold to a Danish merchant. Surcouf left Ile de France in January 1801 to return to La Rochelle, which he reached 72 days later with a cargo valued at 2 million francs.
In 1803 Confiance was captured off the coast of Africa. In 1816, still afloat, she was found in the hands of an English merchant who was very proud of his famous boat.