Action of 25 September 1806
Encyclopedia
The Action of 25 September 1806 was a naval battle fought during the Napoleonic Wars
off the French Biscay
port of Rochefort
. A French convoy of five frigates and two corvettes, sailing to the French West Indies
with supplies and reinforcements, was intercepted by a British squadron of six ships of the line that was keeping a close blockade
of the port as part of the Atlantic campaign of 1806
. The British ships, under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, spotted the French convoy early in the morning of 25 September, just a few hours after the French had left port, and immediately gave chase. Although the French ships tried to escape, they were heavily laden and the strong winds favoured the larger ships of the line, which caught the French convoy after a five hour pursuit, although they had become separated from one another during the chase.
At 05:00 the leading British ship, HMS Monarch
, was within range and opened fire on the French squadron, which divided. One frigate went north and was intercepted by HMS Mars
, while another, accompanied by the two corvettes, turned south and managed to outrun HMS Windsor Castle
. The main body of the French force remained together and met the attack of Monarch and the British flagship HMS Centaur
with their broadside
s. Although outnumbered and outclassed by the British squadron the French ships fought hard, inflicting damage on the leading British ships and severely wounding Commodore Hood. Eventually the strength of the British squadron told, and despite a fierce resistance the French ships surrendered one by one, the British capturing four of the seven vessels in the convoy.
was fought in the Atlantic Ocean
, following a raid by two large French battle squadrons on British trade routes, focused particularly on the Caribbean. The security of the French Caribbean was under severe threat during the wars, as the Royal Navy
dominated the region and restricted French movements both between the islands and between the West Indies and France itself. This dominance was enforced by rigorous blockade
, in which British ships attempted to ensure that no French military or commercial vessel was able to enter or leave French harbours both in Europe and in the French colonies. In the Caribbean, this strategy was designed to destroy the economies and morale of the French West Indian territories in preparation for attack by British expeditionary forces. To counter this strategy, the French government repeatedly sent convoys and individual warships to the French Caribbean islands with supplies of food, military equipment and reinforcements. These resupply efforts ranged from small individual corvettes to large battle squadrons and were under orders to avoid conflict wherever possible. Despite these orders, many were intercepted by British blockade forces, either in the Caribbean or off the French coast itself.
The largest French resupply effort of the Napoleonic Wars was a squadron under Contre-Admiral Corentin-Urbain Leissègues, sent to Santo Domingo in December 1805 with troops and supplies. In conjunction with a second squadron under Vice-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, this force was then ordered to raid British trade routes and disrupt the movement of British merchant shipping across the Atlantic. Leissègues reached Santo Domingo in February 1806, but within days a British battle squadron had intercepted and destroyed his force at the Battle of San Domingo
. Willaumez was able to avoid attack by British forces during the spring of 1806, and cruised in the Caribbean during much of the summer, but his force was eventually dispersed by a hurricane in August and the survivors forced to shelter on the American Eastern Seaboard
. Unaware of the dispersal of Willaumez's squadron, the British naval authorities sought to block its return to Europe by stationing strong battle squadrons off the principal French Atlantic ports. One of their most important targets was the city of Rochefort
, heavily fortified port in which a powerful French naval force was based, and a squadron of six Royal Navy ships of the line was assigned to watch it in case Willaumez attempted to return there. In August, command of the blockade squadron was awarded to Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, a highly experience naval commander.
In Rochefort, an expedition was planned to carry supplies to the French West Indies while the British were distracted by Willaumez's operations. Assigned to the operation was Commodore Eleonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil
, an officer who had served on Allemand's expedition
, a successful operation the year before. To carry the supplies and reinforcements, Soleil was provided with seven ships: Four large modern frigates rated at 40-guns but actually carrying 44–46, a smaller and older frigate of 36 guns and two small corvettes of 16 guns each. All of the ships were heavily laden, each carrying as many as 650 men, but it was hoped that their size and speed would allow them to defeat anything smaller than they were and to escape anything larger.
spotted sails to the east. Hood's squadron was spread out, tacking
southeast towards the Chassiron Lighthouse at Saint-Denis-d'Oléron
with HMS Centaur
in the centre, HMS Revenge
to the east (or windward) and Monarch to the west. HMS Mars
was also close by, with the rest of the squadron spread out in the rear. Hood's immediate reaction was that the sails must belong to a squadron of French ships of the line, and ordered his ships to form a line of battle
in anticipation. Even as the signal was raised however, lookouts on Monarch identified the strangers as frigates and Hood abandoned his previous orders and raised a new signal ordering a general chase, confident that his ships could destroy the convoy even without the power and defensive capability of a line of battle.
As soon as Soleil realised that he had been spotted he gave orders for his ships to sail to the southwest as fast as possible, hoping to outdistance the British squadron. However his convoy were all heavily laden and were therefore slower than they would normally be, while the heavy swell and strong winds favoured the large ships of the line. The chase continued throughout the night, until by 04:00 Monarch was clearly gaining on the convoy, with Centaur 8 nautical miles (14.8 km) behind. At 05:00, Captain Richard Lee
was close enough to fire his bow-chasers, small guns situated at the front of his ship, at the rearmost French frigate, the Armide
. Captain Jean-Jacques-Jude Langlois returned the fire with his stern-chasers and the French ships raised the Tricolour in anticipation of battle. Recognising that he was facing an overwhelming British force, Soleil split his ships, sending Thétis and the corvettes Lynx and Sylphe southwards and Infatigable to the north. This had limited success in achieving the desired effect of dividing the pursuit, with Captain William Lukin
taking HMS Mars
out of the British line in pursuit of Infatigable while the slow HMS Windsor Castle
was sent after the three south bound ships, but the main body of the Royal Navy squadron remained on course.
At 10:00, Soleil accepted that his remaining ships would rapidly be overhauled by Monarch and drew them together, forming a compact group with which to receive the British attack. He also ordered his captains to focus their fire on the enemy sails, rigging and masts, hoping to inflict enough damage to delay the pursuit and allow his force to escape. Within minutes Monarch was heavily engaged with Armide and Minerve but Captain Lee found himself at a disadvantage: the heavy swell that has suited his ship during the chase also prevented him from opening his lower gunports in case of flooding. This halved his available cannon and as a result his isolated ship began to suffer severe damage to its rigging and sails from the frigates' gunnery. Within 20 minutes, Monarch was unable to manoeuvere, but Lee continued fighting until Centaur could reach the melee, the flagship opening fire at 11:00. Hood passed the battling Monarch and Minerve, concentrating his fire on Armide and the flagship Gloire. For another 45 minutes the battle continued, Centaur suffering damage to her rigging and sails from the French shot and taking casualties from musket fire from the soldiers carried aboard. Among the wounded was Commodore Hood, who was shot in the right forearm, the ball eventually lodging in his shoulder. Hood retired below and command passed to his second in command, Lieutenant Case.
At 11:45, Armide surrendered to Centaur, followed 15 minutes later by Minerve. Both ships had suffered heavy damage and casualties in the unequal engagement and could not hope to continue their resistance with the rest of the British squadron rapidly approaching. To the north, Infatigable had failed to outrun Mars and Captain Lukin forced the frigate to surrender after a brief cannonade. With three ships lost and the other three long disappeared to the south, Soleil determined to flee westwards, hoping the damage he had inflicted on Centaur' s sails was sufficient to prevent her pursuit. However, Gloire had also been damaged and could not distance herself from the British flagship sufficiently before support arrived in the form of Mars. With his ship undamaged, Lukin was able to easily catch the fleeing frigate and opened fire at 14:30, combat continuing for half an hour before Soleil surrendered, his frigate badly damaged. To the south, Windsor Castle had proven far too slow to catch the smaller French ships, which had easily outrun the second rate and escaped.
wrote in 1827 of the "gallant conduct on the part of the French ships" and William Laird Clowes
, writing in 1900 stated that "The resistance offered by the French to a force so superior was in every way credible".
Within days of the action Hood had been promoted to rear-admiral and awarded a pension of £500 a year, but despite his wound he continued in service, fighting a notable action with Russian ships in the Baltic Sea
in 1807 and later operating off the Spanish coast in the early Peninsular War
. French efforts to resupply their West Indian colonies continued throughout the next three years, costing a heavy toll of men and ships lost to the British blockade. By 1808, the situation in the French Caribbean had become desperate and the French increased their supply convoys, losing five frigates and a ship of the line in failed reinforcement efforts during late 1808 and early 1809. The weakened colonies were unable to resist British attack, and co-ordinated invasions forced the surrender of first Martinique
in January 1809 and Guadeloupe
a year later, Cayenne
and Santo Domingo also falling to British, Spanish and Portuguese forces.
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
off the French Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
port of Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
. A French convoy of five frigates and two corvettes, sailing to the French West Indies
French West Indies
The term French West Indies or French Antilles refers to the seven territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: the two overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the two overseas collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, plus...
with supplies and reinforcements, was intercepted by a British squadron of six ships of the line that was keeping a close blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
of the port as part of the Atlantic campaign of 1806
Atlantic campaign of 1806
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuveres and counter-manoeuveres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Napoleonic Wars...
. The British ships, under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, spotted the French convoy early in the morning of 25 September, just a few hours after the French had left port, and immediately gave chase. Although the French ships tried to escape, they were heavily laden and the strong winds favoured the larger ships of the line, which caught the French convoy after a five hour pursuit, although they had become separated from one another during the chase.
At 05:00 the leading British ship, HMS Monarch
HMS Monarch (1765)
HMS Monarch was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 20 July 1765 at Deptford Dockyard.Monarch had a very active career, fighting in her first battle in 1778 at the First Battle of Ushant and her second under Admiral Rodney at Cape St. Vincent in 1780...
, was within range and opened fire on the French squadron, which divided. One frigate went north and was intercepted by HMS Mars
HMS Mars (1794)
HMS Mars was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1794 at Deptford Dockyard.-Career:In the early part of the French Revolutionary Wars she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. In 1797 under Captain Alexander Hood she was prominent in the Spithead mutiny...
, while another, accompanied by the two corvettes, turned south and managed to outrun HMS Windsor Castle
HMS Windsor Castle (1790)
HMS Windsor Castle was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 May 1790 at Deptford Dockyard.-Dardanelles:Windsor Castle was part of Robert Calder's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805...
. The main body of the French force remained together and met the attack of Monarch and the British flagship HMS Centaur
HMS Centaur (1797)
HMS Centaur was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich. She served as Sir Samuel Hood's flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel. During her 22-year career Centaur saw action in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the West Indies, and the Baltic, fighting...
with their broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
s. Although outnumbered and outclassed by the British squadron the French ships fought hard, inflicting damage on the leading British ships and severely wounding Commodore Hood. Eventually the strength of the British squadron told, and despite a fierce resistance the French ships surrendered one by one, the British capturing four of the seven vessels in the convoy.
Background
The principal naval campaign of 1806Atlantic campaign of 1806
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuveres and counter-manoeuveres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Napoleonic Wars...
was fought in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, following a raid by two large French battle squadrons on British trade routes, focused particularly on the Caribbean. The security of the French Caribbean was under severe threat during the wars, as the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
dominated the region and restricted French movements both between the islands and between the West Indies and France itself. This dominance was enforced by rigorous blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
, in which British ships attempted to ensure that no French military or commercial vessel was able to enter or leave French harbours both in Europe and in the French colonies. In the Caribbean, this strategy was designed to destroy the economies and morale of the French West Indian territories in preparation for attack by British expeditionary forces. To counter this strategy, the French government repeatedly sent convoys and individual warships to the French Caribbean islands with supplies of food, military equipment and reinforcements. These resupply efforts ranged from small individual corvettes to large battle squadrons and were under orders to avoid conflict wherever possible. Despite these orders, many were intercepted by British blockade forces, either in the Caribbean or off the French coast itself.
The largest French resupply effort of the Napoleonic Wars was a squadron under Contre-Admiral Corentin-Urbain Leissègues, sent to Santo Domingo in December 1805 with troops and supplies. In conjunction with a second squadron under Vice-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, this force was then ordered to raid British trade routes and disrupt the movement of British merchant shipping across the Atlantic. Leissègues reached Santo Domingo in February 1806, but within days a British battle squadron had intercepted and destroyed his force at the Battle of San Domingo
Battle of San Domingo
The Battle of San Domingo, in 1806, was a naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars. French and British squadrons of ships of the line met off the southern coast of the French-occupied Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean...
. Willaumez was able to avoid attack by British forces during the spring of 1806, and cruised in the Caribbean during much of the summer, but his force was eventually dispersed by a hurricane in August and the survivors forced to shelter on the American Eastern Seaboard
Eastern seaboard
An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...
. Unaware of the dispersal of Willaumez's squadron, the British naval authorities sought to block its return to Europe by stationing strong battle squadrons off the principal French Atlantic ports. One of their most important targets was the city of Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
, heavily fortified port in which a powerful French naval force was based, and a squadron of six Royal Navy ships of the line was assigned to watch it in case Willaumez attempted to return there. In August, command of the blockade squadron was awarded to Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, a highly experience naval commander.
In Rochefort, an expedition was planned to carry supplies to the French West Indies while the British were distracted by Willaumez's operations. Assigned to the operation was Commodore Eleonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil
Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil
Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil was a French Navy officer and captain.- Biography :Born to the family of a surgeon, Soleil started sailing on a merchantman in 1783. In 1785, he served in the French Royal Navy on a fluyt, before returning to merchant shipping.In August 1789, Soleil joined up as a...
, an officer who had served on Allemand's expedition
Allemand's expedition of 1805
Allemand's expedition of 1805, often referred to as the Escadre invisible in French sources, was an important French naval expedition during the Napoleonic Wars, which formed a major diversion to the ongoing Trafalgar campaign in the Atlantic Ocean...
, a successful operation the year before. To carry the supplies and reinforcements, Soleil was provided with seven ships: Four large modern frigates rated at 40-guns but actually carrying 44–46, a smaller and older frigate of 36 guns and two small corvettes of 16 guns each. All of the ships were heavily laden, each carrying as many as 650 men, but it was hoped that their size and speed would allow them to defeat anything smaller than they were and to escape anything larger.
Battle
Soleil's squadron departed Rochefort on the evening of 24 September, aiming to bypass Hood's squadron in the dark. However at 01:00 on 25 September, with the wind coming from the northeast, lookouts on HMS MonarchHMS Monarch (1765)
HMS Monarch was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 20 July 1765 at Deptford Dockyard.Monarch had a very active career, fighting in her first battle in 1778 at the First Battle of Ushant and her second under Admiral Rodney at Cape St. Vincent in 1780...
spotted sails to the east. Hood's squadron was spread out, tacking
Tacking (sailing)
Tacking or coming about is a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other...
southeast towards the Chassiron Lighthouse at Saint-Denis-d'Oléron
Saint-Denis-d'Oléron
Saint-Denis-d'Oléron is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
with HMS Centaur
HMS Centaur (1797)
HMS Centaur was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich. She served as Sir Samuel Hood's flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel. During her 22-year career Centaur saw action in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the West Indies, and the Baltic, fighting...
in the centre, HMS Revenge
HMS Revenge (1805)
HMS Revenge was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 April 1805. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught...
to the east (or windward) and Monarch to the west. HMS Mars
HMS Mars (1794)
HMS Mars was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1794 at Deptford Dockyard.-Career:In the early part of the French Revolutionary Wars she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. In 1797 under Captain Alexander Hood she was prominent in the Spithead mutiny...
was also close by, with the rest of the squadron spread out in the rear. Hood's immediate reaction was that the sails must belong to a squadron of French ships of the line, and ordered his ships to form a line of battle
Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
in anticipation. Even as the signal was raised however, lookouts on Monarch identified the strangers as frigates and Hood abandoned his previous orders and raised a new signal ordering a general chase, confident that his ships could destroy the convoy even without the power and defensive capability of a line of battle.
As soon as Soleil realised that he had been spotted he gave orders for his ships to sail to the southwest as fast as possible, hoping to outdistance the British squadron. However his convoy were all heavily laden and were therefore slower than they would normally be, while the heavy swell and strong winds favoured the large ships of the line. The chase continued throughout the night, until by 04:00 Monarch was clearly gaining on the convoy, with Centaur 8 nautical miles (14.8 km) behind. At 05:00, Captain Richard Lee
Richard Lee (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Richard Lee KCB KTS was a prominent officer of the British Royal Navy who served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
was close enough to fire his bow-chasers, small guns situated at the front of his ship, at the rearmost French frigate, the Armide
French frigate Armide (1804)
Armide was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, and launched in 1804 at Rochefort. She served briefly in the French navy before the British captured her in 1806. She went on to serve in the British Navy until 1815 when she was broken up.-French service:She took part in...
. Captain Jean-Jacques-Jude Langlois returned the fire with his stern-chasers and the French ships raised the Tricolour in anticipation of battle. Recognising that he was facing an overwhelming British force, Soleil split his ships, sending Thétis and the corvettes Lynx and Sylphe southwards and Infatigable to the north. This had limited success in achieving the desired effect of dividing the pursuit, with Captain William Lukin
William Lukin
Vice-Admiral William Lukin, later William Lukin Windham was a Royal Navy officer who rose to the rank of Vice Admiral and served with great distinction through the Napoleonic Wars. Eventually he inherited the house and estates of William Windham.-Early life:William Lukin was born in the village of...
taking HMS Mars
HMS Mars (1794)
HMS Mars was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1794 at Deptford Dockyard.-Career:In the early part of the French Revolutionary Wars she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. In 1797 under Captain Alexander Hood she was prominent in the Spithead mutiny...
out of the British line in pursuit of Infatigable while the slow HMS Windsor Castle
HMS Windsor Castle (1790)
HMS Windsor Castle was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 May 1790 at Deptford Dockyard.-Dardanelles:Windsor Castle was part of Robert Calder's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805...
was sent after the three south bound ships, but the main body of the Royal Navy squadron remained on course.
At 10:00, Soleil accepted that his remaining ships would rapidly be overhauled by Monarch and drew them together, forming a compact group with which to receive the British attack. He also ordered his captains to focus their fire on the enemy sails, rigging and masts, hoping to inflict enough damage to delay the pursuit and allow his force to escape. Within minutes Monarch was heavily engaged with Armide and Minerve but Captain Lee found himself at a disadvantage: the heavy swell that has suited his ship during the chase also prevented him from opening his lower gunports in case of flooding. This halved his available cannon and as a result his isolated ship began to suffer severe damage to its rigging and sails from the frigates' gunnery. Within 20 minutes, Monarch was unable to manoeuvere, but Lee continued fighting until Centaur could reach the melee, the flagship opening fire at 11:00. Hood passed the battling Monarch and Minerve, concentrating his fire on Armide and the flagship Gloire. For another 45 minutes the battle continued, Centaur suffering damage to her rigging and sails from the French shot and taking casualties from musket fire from the soldiers carried aboard. Among the wounded was Commodore Hood, who was shot in the right forearm, the ball eventually lodging in his shoulder. Hood retired below and command passed to his second in command, Lieutenant Case.
At 11:45, Armide surrendered to Centaur, followed 15 minutes later by Minerve. Both ships had suffered heavy damage and casualties in the unequal engagement and could not hope to continue their resistance with the rest of the British squadron rapidly approaching. To the north, Infatigable had failed to outrun Mars and Captain Lukin forced the frigate to surrender after a brief cannonade. With three ships lost and the other three long disappeared to the south, Soleil determined to flee westwards, hoping the damage he had inflicted on Centaur
Aftermath
It took some time for the British squadron to effect repairs on their ships and prizes in preparation for the journey back to Britain. They had suffered light casualties of nine killed and 29 wounded, but among the more seriously injured was Hood, whose arm had been amputated during the battle.[Note A] French losses were much heavier but are unknown: Hood did not include them in his official report but promised to provide them soon afterwards in a follow up letter, which, if it was written, has never been located. All four of the captured frigates were large new vessels that were immediately purchased for service in the Royal Navy, Gloire and Armide retaining their names while Infatigable became HMS Immortalite and Minerve became HMS Alceste. Although Hood and his men were commended at the time, subsequent historical focus has been on the bravery of the inexperienced French crews in resisting an attack by an overwhelming force for so long. William JamesWilliam James (naval historian)
William M. James was a British lawyer turned naval historian who wrote important naval histories of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815.-Career:...
wrote in 1827 of the "gallant conduct on the part of the French ships" and William Laird Clowes
William Laird Clowes
Sir William Laird Clowes was a British journalist and historian whose principal work was The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, a text that is still in print. He also wrote numerous technical pieces on naval technology and strategy and was also noted for his articles concerning...
, writing in 1900 stated that "The resistance offered by the French to a force so superior was in every way credible".
Within days of the action Hood had been promoted to rear-admiral and awarded a pension of £500 a year, but despite his wound he continued in service, fighting a notable action with Russian ships in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
in 1807 and later operating off the Spanish coast in the early Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. French efforts to resupply their West Indian colonies continued throughout the next three years, costing a heavy toll of men and ships lost to the British blockade. By 1808, the situation in the French Caribbean had become desperate and the French increased their supply convoys, losing five frigates and a ship of the line in failed reinforcement efforts during late 1808 and early 1809. The weakened colonies were unable to resist British attack, and co-ordinated invasions forced the surrender of first Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in January 1809 and Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
a year later, Cayenne
Cayenne
Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "Ferit Aurum Industria" which means "Work brings wealth"...
and Santo Domingo also falling to British, Spanish and Portuguese forces.
Order of battle
| Commodore Hood's squadron | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Notes | ||||
| Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
| HMS Monarch HMS Monarch (1765) HMS Monarch was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 20 July 1765 at Deptford Dockyard.Monarch had a very active career, fighting in her first battle in 1778 at the First Battle of Ushant and her second under Admiral Rodney at Cape St. Vincent in 1780... |
Third rate | 74 |  |
Captain Richard Lee Richard Lee (Royal Navy officer) Admiral Sir Richard Lee KCB KTS was a prominent officer of the British Royal Navy who served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars... |
6 | 18 | 24 | Suffered severe damage to rigging and masts. | ||
| HMS Centaur HMS Centaur (1797) HMS Centaur was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich. She served as Sir Samuel Hood's flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel. During her 22-year career Centaur saw action in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the West Indies, and the Baltic, fighting... |
Third rate | 74 | |
Commodore Sir Samuel Hood | 3 | 4 | 7 | Suffered severe damage to rigging and masts. | ||
| HMS Mars HMS Mars (1794) HMS Mars was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1794 at Deptford Dockyard.-Career:In the early part of the French Revolutionary Wars she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. In 1797 under Captain Alexander Hood she was prominent in the Spithead mutiny... |
Third rate | 74 | |
Captain William Lukin William Lukin Vice-Admiral William Lukin, later William Lukin Windham was a Royal Navy officer who rose to the rank of Vice Admiral and served with great distinction through the Napoleonic Wars. Eventually he inherited the house and estates of William Windham.-Early life:William Lukin was born in the village of... |
0 | 0 | 0 | Suffered minor damage to rigging and hull. | ||
| HMS Windsor Castle HMS Windsor Castle (1790) HMS Windsor Castle was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 May 1790 at Deptford Dockyard.-Dardanelles:Windsor Castle was part of Robert Calder's fleet at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805... |
Second rate | 98 | |
Captain Charles Boyles | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not engaged during the battle. | ||
| HMS Achille HMS Achille (1798) HMS Achille was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was built by Cleverley Bros., a private shipyard at Gravesend, and launched on 16 April 1798. Her design was based on the lines of the captured French ship... |
Third rate | 74 | |
Captain Richard King Sir Richard King, 2nd Baronet Vice Admiral Sir Richard King, 2nd Baronet KCB was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, who fought with distinction at the battle of Trafalgar despite being amongst the youngest captains present.King was the son of Sir Richard King, 1st Baronet, a... |
0 | 0 | 0 | Not engaged during the battle. | ||
| HMS Revenge HMS Revenge (1805) HMS Revenge was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 13 April 1805. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught... |
Third rate | 74 | |
Captain Sir John Gore John Gore (Royal Navy officer) Admiral Sir John Gore, KCB was a British naval commander of the 18th and 19th centuries... |
0 | 0 | 0 | Not engaged during the battle. | ||
| HMS Atalante HMS Atalante (1797) HMS Atalante was an 16-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the French Atalante, captured in 1797. She served with the British during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and was wrecked in 1807.... |
Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
16 | |
Commander John Ore Masefield | 0 | 0 | 0 | Not engaged during the battle. | ||
| Casualties: 9 killed, 29 wounded, 38 total[Note A] | ||||||||||
| Source: James, p. 262, Clowes, p. 390, Woodman, p. 226, | ||||||||||
| Commodore Soleil's Squadron | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Notes |
| Gloire French frigate Gloire (1803) Gloire was a 44-gun frigate of the French Navy.She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805. On 18 July, she captured and burnt a Prussian cutter to maintain the secrecy of the movements of the fleet, in spite of the neutrality of Prussia at the time... |
Fifth rate | 40 |  |
Commodore Eleonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil Éléonore-Jean-Nicolas Soleil was a French Navy officer and captain.- Biography :Born to the family of a surgeon, Soleil started sailing on a merchantman in 1783. In 1785, he served in the French Royal Navy on a fluyt, before returning to merchant shipping.In August 1789, Soleil joined up as a... |
Heavy | Captured with surviving crew. Later commissioned as HMS Gloire. |
| Minerve | Fifth rate | 40 | |
Captain Joseph Collet | Heavy | Captured with surviving crew. Later commissioned as HMS Alceste. |
| Armide French frigate Armide (1804) Armide was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, and launched in 1804 at Rochefort. She served briefly in the French navy before the British captured her in 1806. She went on to serve in the British Navy until 1815 when she was broken up.-French service:She took part in... |
Fifth rate | 40 | |
Commander Jean-Jacques-Jude Langlois | Heavy | Captured with surviving crew. Later commissioned as HMS Armide. |
| Infatigable French frigate Infatigable (1800) Infatigable was a 40-gun Valeureuse class frigate of the French Navy. She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805.In the Action of 25 September 1806, she and Gloire, Minerve and Armide were captured by a four-ship squadron under Samuel Hood.She was taken into Royal Navy service as HMS... |
Fifth rate | 40 | |
Captain Joseph-Maurice Girardias | Minor | Captured with surviving crew. Later commissioned as HMS Immortalite. |
| Thétis French frigate Thétis (1788) Thétis was a 40-gun Nymphe-class frigate frigate of the French Navy.From 1790, she served in various diplomatic missions in the Indian Ocean, before returning for a refit in Brest in 1793. From 1795, she was shuttled from France to Guadeloupe... [Note B] |
Fifth rate | 36 | |
Captain Jacques Pinsum | None | Not engaged during battle. |
| Lynx French corvette Lynx (1806) Lynx was a 16-gun brig of the French Navy, launched at Bayonne on 17 April 1804, and commissioned in June under Lieutenant Fargenel. The British captured her in 1807 and named her HMS Heureux... |
Corvette Corvette A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role... |
16 | |
Lieutenant Fargenel | None | Not engaged during battle. |
| Sylphe French corvette Sylphe (1804) Sylphe was ar Abeille class 16-gun brig of the French Navy.She took part in Allemand's expedition of 1805 under commander Langlois, capturing the merchantman Brothers... |
Corvette Corvette A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role... |
16 | |
None | Not engaged during battle. | |
| Total casualties: Unknown, believed to be heavy | ||||||
| Source: James, p. 262, Clowes, p. 390, Woodman, p. 226, | ||||||