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The 64-gun ''Jason'' was a ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1779. The Royal Navy captured ''Jason'' on 19 April 1782 at the Battle of the Mona Passage. The Admiralty then commissioned her as the third rate HMS ''Argonaut''. ''Argonaut'' served during the French Revolutionary Wars until 1797 when she was put on harbour service. She was not broken up until 1831. ==French Revolutionary War== On 8 January 1795, while under the command of Captain Alexander John Ball she captured the French Republican warship ''Esperance'' on the North America Station.〔 ''Esperance'' was armed with 22 guns (4 and 6-pounders), and had a crew of 130 men. She was under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau De St. Laurent and had been out 56 days from Rochfort, bound for the Chesapeake. ''Argonaut'' shared the prize money with Captain Robert Murray's HMS ''Oiseaux''. The French ambassador to the United States registered a complaint with the President of the United States that ''Argonaut'', by entering Lynnhaven bay, either before she captured ''Esperance'' or shortly thereafter, had violated a treaty between France and the United States.〔President (1815), pp.38-9.〕 The French also accused the British of having brought ''Esperance'' into Lynnhaven for refitting for a cruise. The President passed the complaint to the Secretary of State, who forwarded the complaint to the Governor of Virginia. The Governor inquired into the matter of the British Consul at Virginia.〔 The British Consul replied that the capture had taken place some 10 leagues off shore. The weather had forced ''Argonaut'' and her prize to shelter within the Chesapeake for some days, but that they had left as soon as practicable. Furthermore, ''Argonaut'' had paroled her French prisoners when she came into Lynnhaven and if had entered American territorial waters solely to parole her French prisoners no one would have thought that objectionable.〔Pitt et al., (1875-93), p.445.〕 The authorities in Virginia took a number of depositions but ultimately nothing further came from the matter. Because she was captured in good order and sailed well, Rear Admiral George Murray, the British commander in chief of the North American station, put a British crew aboard and sent ''Esperance'' out on patrol with ''Lynx'' on 31 January. On 3 August 1795, ''Argonaut'' captured the ship ''Anna''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Argonaut (1782)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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