HMS Vengeance was originally the 48-gun French Navy frigate Vengeance and lead ship of her class. She engaged USS Constellation during the Quasi-War, in an inconclusive engagement that left both ships heavily damaged. During the French Revolutionary Wars, HMS Seine hunted Vengeance down and captured her after a sharp action. She was recommissioned in the Royal Navy as the 38-gun fifth rate HMS Vengeance, but the British apparently never returned her to seagoing service. Accounts are divided as to her eventual fate. She may have been broken up in 1803 after grounding in 1801, or continued as a prison ship until 1814.
HMS Seine captures Vengeance on 20 August 1800, depicted in a print by Thomas Whitcombe
USS Constellation was a nominally rated 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy.
Design of the hull of USF Constellation, which was shared with USF Congress.
Scene depicting the engagement, with Constellation (left), firing upon the L'Insurgente (right).
Thomas Truxtun
The 1854 Constellation in 2012