Early life Born to
Pierre-Servais-René Bouvet, Pierre Bouvet enlisted in the French Navy as a volunteer at the age of 11, on 13 December 1786, and enlisted on the merchant
fluyt Nécessaire, He returned to France in May 1789. He then transferred on the 74-gun
Tourville for a patrol the same month in June In 1792, he became a midshipman, and served on the brand-new frigate
Aréthuse in Toulon, under his father who had recently been promoted to captain.
Service in the English Channel In June 1795, Bouvet was appointed to the frigate
Rassurante, on which he roamed the English Channel until September. Bouvet obtained a release from Navy duty to enlist on a privateer, the
Triton. privateer
Furet on 16 December 1799. On the 26th at 10:15,
Furet was intercepted by
HMS Viper under Lieutenant John Pengelly, After a running chase of over two hours,
Viper caught up with
Furet and delivered two broadsides that compelled her to strike her colours. including Bouvet, who suffered an injury and was again taken prisoner. Bouvet was appointed to the inspection of signals on the coasts near Brest; he held this position until 14 March 1801, when he was appointed to the frigate
Consolante.
Redoutable departed for Guadeloupe, During the journey, on 24 April, Bouvet was promoted to Lieutenant. With Linois' division, he cruised in the Gulf of Bengal, took part in the
Battle of Vizagapatam on 15 September 1804, Captain Gaudin-Beauchêne sent Bouvet to Mauritius with despatches for governor Decaen, and sailed to La Réunion to visit his family.
Service on Entreprenant and the rescue of Mouche n° 6 At Mauritius, Bouvet requested the construction of a
patamar to which Decaen agreed. and returned to Mauritius on his prize, which she renamed
Entreprenant. She was a "brig gourable", of 16 guns, disappeared there a few months before. In order to obtain a clear
casus belli, Bouvet anchored his ship at the entrance of
Manila Bay, but stayed ready to set sail. Soon,
Antelope and shore batteries opened up on
Entreprenant, which promptly retreated. Bouvet sailed to
Corregidor Island and endeavored to blockade all shipping bound for Manila. After collecting enough prisoners in this way, on 3 September, he released them on parole under promise not to navigate at sea before
Mouche n° 6 would be released. Bouvet had them convey his ultimatum that if his conditions were not met the next day, he would attack the coasts of the island. The French crew detained in Manila was promptly released and returned to
Entreprenant. On 20 October, sailing through
Malacca Strait,
Entreprenant encountered a British convoy and detected an isolated sail, which she intercepted by 23:00. The ship was the 18-gun
Ovidor, of the
Dutch East India Company.
Service on Minerve, Duperré's squadron, and the Battle of Grand Port Bouvet relinquished command of
Entreprenant in late January 1810, On
Minerve, he took part in the
action of 3 July 1810, where he single-handedly engaged the East Indiamen
Ceylon,
Windham and
Astell for one hour before the rest of
Duperré's squadron rejoined him. The squadron then returned to Mauritius where it encountered four British frigates, leading to the
Battle of Grand Port, from 20 to 27 August 1810. . Bouvet commanded the French forces (on the right of the painting) during the second half of the battle. At the Battle of Grand Port, Bouvet replaced
Duperré as chief of the French squadron on
Bellone when he was wounded and carried below deck. in the subsequent
Action of 13 September 1810,
Astrée and
Iphigénie subdued
Africaine, but had to abandon her when the rest of
Rowley's frigate division arrived on the scene.
Astrée and
Iphigénie sailed to Mauritius for resupply and repair, captured the British
East India Company's
Bombay Marine's 14-gun sloop-of-war
Aurora en route, and arrived at Port-Nord-Ouest on 22 September. and on 11 April 1811, Bouvet embarked on the
cartel Adèle, bound for France where he arrived on 14 August, landing in
Morlaix. After one year, on 6 December 1811, he was appointed to command the frigate
Clorinde, on which he embarked on 5 January 1812. and lead a frigate squadron also comprising
Rubis, under Commander
Louis-François Ollivier. On 25 November 1812, Bouvet's division departed from Nantes, sailed to
Cape Verde and
Guinea, and anchored at
Îles de Los; Probably because of these mixed reviews, Bouvet was appointed
Officer of the Legion of Honour, on 2 July, but was neither promoted to Rear-Admiral, nor made a
Baron of the Empire, as had been requested in his favour.
Later life On 1 October 1813, Bouvet was relieved from duty due to ill health and replaced by Captain
Le Bozec, The new regime appointed him
Knight of the Order of Saint Louis on 5 July 1814. In 1852,
Napoléon III reinstated Bouvet as titulary Rear-Admiral in the reserve corps. He died in 1860 on June 18 Saint-Servan, and was buried in the
Jeanne-Jugan Cemetery in Saint Malo. In 1864 when his son, father of
Amélie Carette, died in Cherbourg, he was buried alongside him. == Works ==