HMS Blanche was a 32-gun Hermione-class fifth rate of the Royal Navy. She was ordered towards the end of the American War of Independence, but only briefly saw service before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793. She enjoyed a number of successful cruises against privateers in the West Indies, before coming under the command of Captain Robert Faulknor. He took the Blanche into battle against a superior opponent and after a hard-fought battle, forced the surrender of the French frigate Pique. Faulknor was among those killed on the Blanche. She subsequently served in the Mediterranean, where she had the misfortune of forcing a large Spanish frigate to surrender, but was unable to secure the prize, which then escaped. Returning to British waters she was converted to a storeship and then a troopship, but did not serve for long before being wrecked off the Texel in 1799.
HMS Blanche tows the captured Pique into port, depicted by Robert Dodd
The death of Robert Faulknor
Robert Faulknor the younger
Robert Faulknor the younger (1763–1795) was an 18th-century Royal Navy officer, part of the Faulknor naval dynasty. He was court-martialled and died in an action off Guadeloupe in the eastern Caribbean Sea.
Printed memorial to Robert Faulknor, by H. D. Gardner, published 1795 (after James Roberts)
Capture of Fort Saint Louis, Martinique, 1794, with Asia in the background and HMS Zebra in the foreground - Artist: William Anderson (British/Scottish artist)
The capture of the Pique by HMS Blanche
The death in action of Captain Robert Faulknor on January 5, 1795 during the engagement between the Frigate Blanche and the Frigate Pique - Guadeloupe