L'Apollon

Posted by Albert Parker on Sunday 20th of June 2021 02:41

See my comment on Baudran Méttrie's page. He seems to have commanded Apollon until February 1748. Apollon and her privateering consort, Anglesea (yes, the ex-British ship she had captured in 1745) were then at Port Louis, Île de France (previously and now Mauritius) in the Indian Ocean. Orders came from France for the two chartered navy ships to be turned over to the Compagnie des Indes Orientales (CdIO) and placed under its officers. CdIO capitaine Herbert de la Port-Barré (spelling varies) was assigned to commander her. He commanded _Apollon_ during the successful voyage to take money, soldiers, and weapons to French-occupied (since Octobeer 1746) Madras. Under Jean-Baptiste Bouvet de Lozier, the squadron intimidated Rear-Admiral (promotion from captain unknown so far in India) at Cuddalore on June 10-11/21-22, 1748, delivered the cargo, and got clean away without a fight. They were back at Île de France by July 14/25.
King Louis XV sent Pépin de Belle-Isle a commission as an enseigne de vaisseau in la Marine royale on April 4/15, 1745. He eventually retired from the navy at the rank of chef d'escadre but I don't have any information about promotions through the intervening ranks.