The Topaze was a 44-gun frigate of the French Navy. For the bird see Frigatebird. A frigate /ˈfrɪgɪt/ is a warship The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm

She was built in Nantes in 1803 on plans by Pierre Forfait. Nantes (Naoned Gallo: Naunnt) is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait ( Rouen, 21 April 1752 - Rouen, 8 November 1807 was a French engineer hydrographer and politician

She departed from Nantes in June 1805 for Fort-de-France to carry new instructions to Admiral Villeneuve, but failed to reach him as the fleet was already heading for Europe. Fort-de-France is the Capital of France 's Caribbean Département d'outre-mer of Martinique. Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve ( 31 December 1763 &ndash 22 April 1806) was a French naval officer during the

On 22 January 1809, she was captured by HMS Cleopatra^[1] and recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Alcmene. Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Cleopatra, after the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra: HMS ''Cleopatra'' The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service)

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