History
France
Name	Sylphide
Builder	Indret[1]
Laid down	July 1762 [1]
Launched	July 1763 [1]
Commissioned	October 1763 [1]
Fate	Wrecked near Camaret on 2 September 1784 [1]
General characteristics
Displacement	190 tonnes [1]
Length	29.9 metres [1]
Beam	8.0 metres [1]
Draught	3.7 metres [1]
Propulsion	Sail
Armament	12 4-pounder guns [1]
Armour	Timber

Sylphide (also written Silphide)^[1] was a 12-gun corvette of the French Navy.

Career

From 1776 to 1777, she was under Lieutenant Bidé de Maurville.^[2]

During the War of American Independence, Sylphide served in the Indian Ocean in the squadron under Suffren, ferrying despatches. In early July 1782, during the run-up of the Battle of Negapatam, Suffren chose her and Diligent to bring news of the outcome of the battle to Isle de France.^[3] After the battle, her rigging was dismantled to replace parts on Suffren's ships of the line, and she received herself parts from the rigging of Yarmouth and from another prize as replacement. ^[4]

From July 1784, she was used as a transport. On 2 September, she was wrecked at Pointe du Toulinguet^[1]

Citations

References

• Cunat, Charles (1852). Histoire du Bailli de Suffren. Rennes: A. Marteville et Lefas. p. 447.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671 - 1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. pp. 325–6. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.