Revenant was a 20-gun privateer corvette, launched in 1807, and designed by Robert Surcouf for commerce raiding. The French Navy later requisitioned her and renamed her Iéna, after Napoleon's then-recent victory at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt. The British captured her in 1808 and she served in the Royal Navy as HMS Victor. The French Navy recaptured her in 1809, taking her back into service under the new name. The British again captured her when they took Isle de France in December 1810. They did not restore her to service, and she was subsequently broken up.
Detail of Combat de Grand Port, by Pierre Julien Gilbert, Musée national de la marine. Victor (ex-Revenant) is visible in the background.
Robert Surcouf was a French privateer, businessman and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean from 1789 to 1808 during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Capturing over 40 prizes, he later amassed a large fortune from a variety of commercial activities, such as ship-owning, privateering, slave trading and owning land.
Surcouf c. 1820
Image: Signature Surcouf avril 18270001
Boarding of Triton by the French corsair Hasard. Engraving by Ambroise-Louis Garneray
Boarding of Triton by the French corsair Hasard under Robert Surcouf. Painting by Léon Trémisot.