- Citations
- References
{{Infobox ship image| Ship image= | Ship caption=
}}{{Infobox Ship Career | Hide header= | Ship country=France | Ship flag= | Ship name=Officieuse | Ship namesake= | Ship ordered= | Ship builder=Le Havre by Jean-Joseph Ginoux | Ship laid down=December 1775 | Ship launched=August 1776 | Ship completed=March 1778 | Ship commissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship captured= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship fate=wrecked November 1781 | Ship status= | Ship honours= | Ship notes=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption=[1] | Ship class= | Ship displacement=~700 tonnes | Ship tons burthen=350-400 (bm) | 113|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on|1}} | 25|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} | 12|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}} | Ship sail plan=Full-rigged ship | Ship speed= | Ship range= | Ship complement=50-190 | Ship armament=Pierced for 20 or 24, carrying 16-20 x 6-pounder guns (w/40 shot per gun)
}} | Officieuse was a storeship launched on 3 August 1776. The French Royal Navy lent her to the Compagnie de Guyane in September. She completed four voyages for the Compagnie, before wrecking on the fifth.[2]- January to July 1777: Le Havre, Tenerife, Gorée, Juda, Île du Prince (possibly Prince Edward Island, Cap-Français, Le Havre
- July 1778 to 1779: Rochefort, Lorient, Gorée, Groix, Guyanne, Rochefort
- August 1779 to end-1779: Rochefort to Senegal and return
- March 1780 to November: Rochefort to Guyane and return
During this last voyage she captured the British merchant vessel Arlequin (probably Harlequin), off Cayenne. However, in 1781 the British recaptured her.[3] The captor was possibly {{HMS|Belisarius|1781|6}}, which captured the brig Harlequin on 7 December 1781.[4] In June 1781, Officeuse left Bordeaux for Senegal. In November she wrecked while crossing the bar at Casamance to escape {{HMS|Leander|1780|6}}, under Captain Thomas Shirley. Shirley reported that Officeuse was supposed to be worth £30,000.[5] Citations1. ^Demerliac (1996), p.107, #746.
2. ^Demerliac (1996), p.206, #2074.
3. ^Demerliac (1996), p.207, #2091.
4. ^{{London Gazette|issue=12540|page=4|date=4 May 1784}}
5. ^{{London Gazette|page=4|issue=12312|date=9 July 1782}}
References- Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA). {{ISBN|2-906381-23-3}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Officeuse (1776)}} 4 : 1776 ships|Maritime incidents in 1781|Age of Sail ships of France|Ships built in France |