period, Willaumez took upon himself to study navigation and astronomy, for which he displayed such passion that the chief of the station, Saint-Riveuil, offered him a sextant and a chronometer. Willaumez also received a Reflecting circle from Louis XVI inscribed "Donné par le roi à M. Willaumez, premier pilote". Astrée was called back to France, ferrying Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, governor of Mauritius. When, upon his arrival, Entrecasteaux was appointed to command the Patriote, he took Willaumez with him. Service on Recherche in D'Entrecasteaux' expedition When D'Entrecasteaux was tasked to investigate the fate of Lapérouse's expedition and given command of the Recherche, Willaumez, promoted to Ensign in 1791, followed him, and was tasked with navigation and chronometers. During the campaign, D'Entrecasteaux promoted him to Lieutenant, and appointed Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. In the course of the exploration, he also named the Willaumez Peninsula after him. D'Entrecasteaux died of scurvy on 21 July 1793 and his ships sailed to Java, where they were interned by the Dutch, who were then at war with France. Willaumez was detained for some time before he was able to sail to Mauritius, where he enlisted on the frigate Prudente, under Jean-Marie Renaud. On Prudente, he took part in the action of 22 October 1794, where he commanded the battery of the frigate and received a hand wound. In recognition of his conduct, the governor of Mauritius granted Willaumez command of the corvette Légère and tasked him to carry the documents of D'Entrecasteaux' expedition to France. Légère anchored in Brest two months later. Command of Régénérée in Sercey's squadron In March 1795, Willaumez was promoted to Captain; in May, he was appointed to arm the 74-gun Pluton, on which he perfected techniques of rigging and cargo arrangement. He then ferried the corvette Bergère from Brest to Rochefort, in spite of the British blockade, and took command of the 40-gun frigate Régénérée. Régénérée was part of a two-corvette and four-frigate naval division under Rear-Admiral Sercey, tasked to sail to Mauritius and prey on British merchantmen in the Indian Ocean. During the campaign, she captured nineteen of the 23 prizes captured by the squadron and took part in the action of 8 September 1796, where she suffered two killed and six wounded. With dwindling support from the colony of Mauritius, Sercey had to send Régénérée and Vertu, under Captain Magon, back to France. The frigates departed