Marie Antoinette undermining the First French Republic, Louis XVI was separated from his family and tried in December. He was found guilty by the Convention, led by the Jacobins who rejected the idea of keeping him as a hostage. On 15 January 1793, by a majority of one vote, that of Philippe Égalité, he was condemned to death by guillotine and executed on 21 January 1793. The queen, now called "Widow Capet", plunged into deep mourning. She still hoped her son Louis-Charles, whom the exiled "Comte de Provence", Louis XVI's brother, had recognised as Louis XVI's successor, would one day rule France.
HMS Alert (1793) HMS Alert (1793) HMS "Alert" was launched in 1793 for the Royal Navy. In May 1794 the French Navy captured her and took her into service as "Alerte". A few months later the Royal Navy destroyed her. Commander Charles Smyth commissioned her in October 1793. He then sailed for Nova Scotia in May 1794. "Alerte" was off the coast of Ireland when she had the misfortune to encounter the 40-gun French frigate "Unité". At daybreak on 14 May "Alert" was at when she sighted three vessels. These edged towards "Alert", as she edged away, and the strangers did not respond