Capture of the La Vengeance, Aug 21st, 1800

Seine was a 38-gun Seine-class French frigate that the Royal Navy captured in 1798 and commissioned as the fifth rate HMS Seine. On 20 August 1800, Seine attacked the French ship, Vengeance, which had just finished refitting at Curacao, and captured her. Both ships sustained heavy casualties; 13 crew were killed aboard the Seine, 29 were wounded, and the ship was cut up. However, Vengeance sustained worse: almost cut to pieces, many considered her beyond repair. Nevertheless Vengeance was repaired in Jamaica and taken into British service under her existing name. Thomas Whitcombe (1760-1824) was a marine painter whose works are in several English collections, in particular the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Engraving from 'The Naval Achievements of Great Britain' by James Jenkins. Faint mark and a couple of tiny spots in the sky. Acid-free double mount.