French ship Le Caton (1777)

Le Caton was a Caton class, 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy designed by Marie-Blaise Coulomb. She was built at Toulon between the April of 1770 and the May of 1777 when she was launched.She was completed in the May of 1778.
History
France
Name: Caton
Builder: Toulon
Laid down: April 1770
Launched: 5 July 1777
Completed: May 1778
Captured: 19 April 1782, by Royal Navy

GREAT BRITAIN
Name: Caton
Acquired: 19 April 1782
In service: Registered on 29 January 1783
Reclassified: Hospital ship from August 1790
Fate: Sold on 9 February 1815

General characteristics
Class and type: Caton Class 64 gun third rate ship of the line
Tons burthen: ​1,407 23⁄94 (bm)
Length:
  • 166 ft (51 m) (gundeck)
  • 136 ft 4.75 in (41.5735 m) (keel)
Beam: 44 ft 0.5 in (13.424 m)
Depth of hold: 19 ft 4 in (5.89 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement: 500 (491 from 1794)
Armament:
  • LD deck: 26 × 24-pounders
  • UD: 26 × 18-pounders
  • QD: 10 × 9-pounders

Fc: 2 × 9-pounders


French Service.

In 1780, Caton was part of the squadron under Guichen, captained by Georges- Francois de Framond. Caton was later attached to the squadron commanded by DE Grasse. She took part in the Battle of Martinique on the 17th of April, 1780, as well as in the two smaller engagements of the15th and 19th of May in that year.
At the Battle of Fort Royal on the 29th of April, 1781, Caton was one of the four ships who came to reinforce the squadron under De Grasse, along with Victoire, Réfléchi and Solitaire. She took part in the Battle of the Chesapeake on the 5th of September in that same year.

On the 10th of April ,1782, in the run-up to the Battle of the Saintes, Caton found herself becalmed and Framond asked for assistance. Despite having been sent a frigate, Framond decided to anchor at Basse-Terre without authorisation from his hierarchy. He thus failed to take part in the Battle of the Saintes, and a few days later, on the 19th of April, Caton was captured at the Battle of the Mona Passage.

British Service.

Caton having been taken was commissioned by Admiral Rodney on the 19th of May, 1782 under Captain Richard Fisher for the journey home and she sailed on the 25th of July bound for England. She arrived at Plymouth on the 19th of October, and had her commission as the 64 gun third rate HMS Caton. This was registered on the 29th of January 1783, backdated to her commissioning date.

She was fitted for ordinary between the January and February of 1784, and in the August of 1790 she became Hospital ship still at Plymouth under Commander James May. Recommissioned in the January of 1794 under Lieutenant William Bevians, her next commander was Lieutenant Richard Brown from the August of 1797 until 1801 when she was recommissioned there again, this time in the role of a prison hospital ship. She came under the command of Lieutenant John Simpson from 1813 to 1814.

Fate.

She was sold out of the service at Plymouth for £2,500 on the 9th of February, 1815.