French cutter Pandour (1780)

History
France
Name	Pandour
Builder	Jacques and Daniel Denÿs, Dunkirk
Launched	16 June 1780
Captured	1 June 1795
Great Britain
Name	HMS Pandora
Acquired	December 1795 by capture
Commissioned	September 1796
Fate	Foundered June 1797
General characteristics [1][2]
Class and type	Mutin-class[a]
Type	Cutter, converted to brig
Displacement	212 tons (French)
Tons burthen	231 27⁄94 (bm)
Length	78 ft 0 in (23.8 m) (overall); 60 ft 0+1⁄4 in (18.3 m) (keel)
Beam	26 ft 11 in (8.2 m)
Depth of hold	10 ft 6 in (3.2 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Brig
Complement	French service: 85-115 British service:75
Armament	14 × 6-pounder guns (French and British service)

Pandour was a 14-gun brig of the French Navy launched in 1780 as a cutter. The Royal Navy captured her in December 1795 and took her into service as HMS Pandora, but she foundered in June 1797.

Jacques and Daniel Denys built Pandour as a cutter at Dunkirk in 1780 and launched her on 16 June.^[3] She took part in the Battle of Fort Royal on 29 April and 30 April 1781.^[4][5][6]

In 1782 she was re-rigged as a brig at Brest.^[7][3] In 1786, she was attached to a division comprising Experiment, Boulonnaise and Rossignol, cruising off the coasts of Africa.^[8]

From 1787 to 1790, she was in the Far-East.^[8]

In 1792 she was under the command of Lieutenant Bertrand de Keranguen.^[b] His successor in 1793 as commander was enseigne de vaisseau non-entretenu Hardouin, later promoted to lieutenant de vaisseau. Pandour was based out of Dunkirk and cruised in the North Sea, going as far as Bergen.^[9]

Caroline captured Pandour on 1 December 1795. Caroline was part of Admiral Lord Duncan's squadron in the North Sea and when two strange vessels were spotted, Duncan signaled to Caroline to pursue. After about four and half hours and some pro forma exchange of fire, Caroline captured Pandour of fourteen 6-pounder guns and 108 men. She was three days out of Dunkirk. The other French vessel escaped while Caroline was securing her prisoners. The second vessel was the Septnie, of twelve 4-pounder guns.^[10] When prize money was awarded, Caroline shared it with the other ships of the squadron.^[11]

The Royal Navy had Pandora fitted and coppered at Deptford between January 1796 and 6 May. Lieutenant Samuel Mason commissioned Pandora in September.^[2] She disappeared in the North Sea in June 1797, and was presumed to have foundered with the loss of all hands.^[12]

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• Archives nationales (2011). "Fonds Marine, sous-série B/4: Campagnes, 1571-1785" (PDF). Retrieved 29 April 2020.
• Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.
• Kerguelen, Yves-Joseph (1796). Relation des combats et des évènements de la guerre maritime de 1778 entre la France et l'Angleterre (in French). Imprimerie de Patris.
• Lacour-Gayet, Georges (1905). La marine militaire de la France sous le règne de Louis XVI. Paris: Honoré Champion. OCLC 763372623.
• Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. p. 280. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
• Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé. OCLC 836362484.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
• Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.