CISNE brigantine built circa 1781

[aukepalmhof]

She was built under the name NUESTRA SENORA DE BELEN circa 1781 for the Spanish Navy. The builder and where built not known.
She was brig rigged, later given as brigantine rigged.
Armament 12 guns.

The NUESTRA SENORA DE BELEN, (Our Lady of Bethlehem) later renamed CISNE, was a brig of the Spanish Navy that served in the waters of the South Atlantic and Río de la Plata at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, fighting in the English invasions and against American emancipation.

NUESTRA SENORA DE BELEN

It was incorporated into service between 1780 and 1781, since in September of this last year it was already operating from the Montevideo Station and under the command of Juan Pascual Callejas it was visiting the new Patagonian settlement of Floridablanca, in San Julián Bay. In June 1782 (under the command of Joaquín Gundín) she returned to assist the colony, remaining in its waters until April of the following year and returned for the last time in December 1783 (under the command of José Ignacio Goycochea).
In 1786 she was assigned to the service of the Malvinas Islands under the command of the second pilot Bernardo Tafor (or Tabor). He was part of the fleet commanded by Captain Ramón de Clairac and sailed from Montevideo on March 19, 1789 to travel the coasts of Puerto Deseado , San Julián and the Santa Cruz River . Between April 2 and 4, the squadron stopped and inspected the British frigate ISABEL MARGARITA and the brig SAPPHO, finding whale oil and some ten thousand sea lion hides, for which it warned them and intimidated them to leave the territory. On April 9, the SANTA ELENA boat sank.CLAIRAC, once the pilot José de la Peña had finished the plan for Puerto Deseado, left with the corvette heading for Puerto Soledad (Malvinas) carrying supplies and taking over from Governor Pedro de Mesa y Castro , while he sent the brigantines in search of the mythical Pepys Island . They sailed south for thirteen days, after which they decided to return, arriving in Buenos Aires on May 26.
In 1789 she collaborated with the Malaspina expedition in the hydrographic survey of the coasts between Ensenada de Barragán and Maldonado.
At the beginning of 1797 she was under the command of Francisco Ross. In 1802 she was the flagship of a division placed under the command of Santiago de Liniers . She fought with a frigate and two British brigantines, preventing the ship of the Royal Philippine Company, SANTO DOMINGO from falling into the hands of the enemy . Between 1803 and 1805 she was decommissioned and renamed CISNE (Swan) .

CISNE
After the May Revolution of 1810 in Buenos Aires and the constitution of a Junta, a decision unknown by Montevideo, at the beginning of September 1810 the CISNE, commanded by frigate lieutenant Manuel Borrás, joined the division sent to blockade Buenos Aires commanded by frigate captain José Primo de Rivera .
On February 14, 1811, the lieutenant of the frigate Manuel de Clemente y Miró took over the command . With the division commanded by Jacinto Romarate, he took part on March 2, 1811 in the combat of San Nicolás , boarding and capturing the schooner INVINCIBLE, the flagship of the Junta de Buenos Aires under the command of Juan Bautista Azopardo. After the combat he entered the Colonia del Sacramento.
From there he sailed under the command of Clemente heading to Santo Domingo Soriano , integrating the squadron under the command of Juan Ángel Michelena and on April 3, 1811 he participated in the Combate de Soriano , during which he bombarded the town to protect the landing of the troops and their subsequent re-embarkation when they were rejected by the patriot militias. The attempt failed, she returned to Montevideo where Clemente left command on May 8, 1811.
During the Naval Campaign of 1814 , on March 8, 1814, she was put back under the command of lieutenant Clemente y Miró, although this officer disembarked a few days later to board the corvette MERCEDES. In April, the CISNE was left under the command of Ensign Tomás De Sostoa Achúcarro and with the Spanish division under the command of Captain Miguel de la Sierra, it was in the combat of Montevideo, known as Buceo, between the 14th and 17th of April. May 1814. Being pursued along with the schooner MARIA and the sloop VIGILANCIA by the frigate HERCULES, under the command of Commodore Guillermo Brown, while the MARIA was captured, the other two ships embarked on the coast.
When a boat with twenty men approached to board the brig, Sostoa blew up the ship, and by the explosion was thrown into the water. He was captured and taken on board the brig NANCY, and was able to return to Spain.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuestra_S ... A9n_(1781) (Google translated}
Argentina 1961 2p sg 1007, Scott725.