HMS Lutine (1779)

A Magicienne-class frigate
History
France
Name	Lutine
Namesake	Lutine is the feminine form of Lutin.[a]
Ordered	23 October 1778
Builder	Toulon shipyard
Laid down	March 1779
Launched	11 September 1779
Commissioned	November 1779
Captured	August 1793
Great Britain
Name	HMS Lutine
Acquired	August 1793
Fate	Wrecked 9 October 1799
General characteristics
Class and type	Magicienne-class frigate
Displacement	600 tons (French) 1,000 tons (French) fully loaded
Length	44.2 m (145 ft)
Beam	11.2 m (37 ft)
Draught	5.2 m (17 ft) (22 French feet)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	26 × 12-pounder long guns 6 × 6-pounder long guns

Lutine was a frigate which served in both the French Navy and the Royal Navy. She was launched by the French in 1779. The ship passed to British control in 1793 and was taken into service as HMS Lutine. She sank among the West Frisian Islands during a storm in 1799.

She was built as a French Magicienne-class frigate with 32 guns, and was launched at Toulon in 1779. During the French Revolution, Lutine came under French Royalist control. On 18 December 1793, she was one of sixteen ships handed over to a British fleet at the end of the Siege of Toulon, to prevent her being captured by the French Republicans. In 1795, she was rebuilt by the British as a fifth-rate frigate with 38 guns. She served thereafter in the North Sea, where she was part of the blockade of Amsterdam.

Lutine sank during a storm at Vlieland in the West Frisian Islands on 9 October 1799, whilst carrying a large shipment of gold. Shifting sandbanks disrupted salvage attempts, and the majority of the cargo has never been recovered. Lloyd's of London has preserved her salvaged bell – the Lutine Bell – which is now used for ceremonial purposes at their headquarters in London.

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