L'Insurgente was a 40-gun of the French Navy, launched in 1793. During the Quasi War with the United States, the United States Navy frigate , with Captain Thomas Truxtun in command, captured her off the island of Nevis. After her capture she served in the United States Navy as USS Insurgent, patrolling the waters in the West Indies. In September 1800 she was caught up in a severe storm and was presumed lost at sea. French frigate L'Insurgente L'Insurgente was built by Pierre-Joseph Pénétreau at Lorient and launched on 27 April 1793. In January or February 1794, L'Insurgente captured Ann off Cape Clear Island as Ann was sailing from Newfoundland to Bristol. L'Insurgente put a prize crew aboard Ann, but left her mate and three other men on board. When Ann was in sight of the French coast, the British sailors succeeded in recapturing her from the prize crew; the British then took Ann into Vigo. On 16 January 1794 L'Insurgente captured the American ship and brought her into Brest. John and James had been built at Philadelphia for George Morrison of Petersburg, Virginia. She had left Petersburg with 450 hogsheads of tobacco and 12,000 staves. On 27 December 1794 the Tribunal of Commerce ordered John and James released to Captain James Johnson and the Committee of Public Safety awarded him a payment of 20,000 livres tournois. On 25 April L'Insurgente captured Freundschaft Lourentz, Colandt, master, as Freundschaft Lourentz was sailing from Lisbon to London. However two "Scilly boats" (i.e., boats from the Isles of Scilly), recaptured her the next day and brought her into St Ives, Cornwall. On 5 December 1797 Insurgente captured as Prince Frederick was returning from Madras and Bengal. Prince Frederick was so badly damaged in the engagement that she sank soon afterwards. Her people, however, were saved. The EIC put a value of £59,981 on the cargo that it had lost. Battle with Constellation On 9 February 1799, after being at sea for three days, spotted L'Insurgente approximately northeast off Nevis. L'Insurgente, a fully-rigged frigate, was considered one of the fastest sailing vessels in the world at the time; three weeks earlier she had encountered Constellation but was able to outrun her and escape. Shortly after being spotted by Constellation this second time the ships encountered a squall during which a violent gust of wind snapped L'Insurgentes topmast, impairing her speed. As Constellation approached, Captain