On 9 February 1782, Estienne d'Orves and Suffren assumed command of the squadron. He re-appointed his captains and gave command of Bellone to Jean André de Pas de Beaulieu.[9]
On 14 February 1782 Bellone captured the sloop HMS Chaser in a single ship action. The French took her into service as the corvette Chasseur.
On 1 March 1782, under Captain de Beaulieu, Bellone returned to Trinquebar from a cruise in the Indian Ocean, where she had captured or destroyed 14 merchantmen.[10] In April 1782, Bellone captured the East Indiaman Cartier, which came from China, and brought her to Batacalo.[11] In June of the same year, she captured a British "both", in the roads of Negapatnam that the French took into service as Negapatnam. The next month Negapatnam was at Pondicherry with the French squadron under Admiral Suffren, but her subsequent disposition is unknown.[12] Around late May, Bellonecut out the snowRaiker, with a cargo of arak, and three smaller ships, near the fort of Nagapattinam.[13]
On 12 August 1782, in the runup to the Battle of Trincomalee, Bellone had her mainmast damaged by a gust of wind and sailed to Batacalo for repairs. En route, she encountered HMS Coventry, under Andrew Mitchell. In the ensuing Action of 12 August 1782, Coventry killed or wounded the senior officers of Bellone, which allowed her to make good her escape.[15]
In the wake of the Battle of Trincomalee, Suffren sent Bellone to reconnaitre the harbour of Cuddalore and investigate whether a British attack was imminent. [16]Bellone returned on 23 September 1782 and could report that everything was quiet at Cuddalore.[17]
On 5 February 1791, under Captain de Méhérenc de Saint Pierre, Bellone departed Brest with Amphitrite, bound for Martinique.[1]
From May to December 1792, she cruised the North Sea, before returning to Brest. On 8 October 1792, her commanding officer, Lieutenant Leprince, committed suicide, and the First Officer, Lieutenant Lafargue, took over.[1] In August 1793, she ran aground at Quibéron, but was successfully refloated.[1][2]
The Royal Navy hulked her, with Captain William Ferris commanding her from August 1804. Still, although officially "under repair" at Plymouth, she was never more than a hulk. The Navy sold her for breaking up on 27 August 1806.[3]
Notes
^The number of guns was reported to be 36 or even 40. Study of the wreck confirms that Bellone carried 32 guns.
Monaque, Rémi (2000). Les aventures de Louis-René de Latouche-Tréville, compagnon de La Fayette et commandant de l'Hermione (in French). Paris: SPM.
Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC165892922. (1671-1870)
Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.