Pierre Jean Van Stabel

Counter-Admiral Pierre Jean Van Stabel (8 November 1744 – 30 March 1797 ) was a French Navy officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary Wars.

Career

Pierre Jean Van Stabel was born to a family of sailors steadily rosing to the rank of sea captain. In 1781, he was in command of the 22-gun corvette Rohan Soubise,

Commanding Rohan Soubise, Van Stabel captured the 16-gun British privateer Admiral Rodney after a one-hour battle, in which he was twice wounded by musket bullets to the throat, relinquishing command of his ship just long enough to have the bullets removed from him body. Van Stabel later commanded another privateer, the Robecq. Promoted to ship-of-the-line ensign in 1792, he took command of the frigate Proserpine, on which he left a one-year cruise in the Caribbean

On 16 November, under Admiral Sir John Jervis, managed to capture 17 merchantmen from the convoy Jervis' squadron was escorting

Atlantic campaign of May 1794

Later than year, Van Stabel, with his flag captain Captain Maxime Julien Émeriau de Beauverger, was tasked with escorting a grain convoy onboard the frigate Embuscade, from the Chesapeake Bay to France. He continued on, and eventually reached Brest unharmed on 13 June, without losing a single ship, However, his declining health forced him to return to Dunkirk, where he died soon after

Notes and references