Context
On 21 October 1809, a squadron of the French Navy under Rear-Admiral François-André Baudin left Toulon, escorting a convoy bound for Barcelona. On 23 October, off Cape Saint Sebastian, the squadron detected five sails in the west. With a light wind from the east, Baudin ordered the convoy to seek shelter in Baie des Roses, and had his forces sail to the open sea. By noon, 14 British ships were in sight. In the night, the weather deteriorated and the ships had to reduce sail, an operation made difficult and longer than usual by the lack of training of the crew. In the morning of 24 October, the squadron found itself near the coast, and by 07:30, Baudin ordered his ships to anchor. With 16 metres under keel, he signaled his intention to set sail soon and seek refuge off Sète. [note 1] [1]
Collingwood, having had word of the French attempt to resupply their forces in Barcelona, had left Cape Sicié with 15 ships of the line and five frigates to ambush the convoy off Cape Saint Sebastian. Two frigates were also posted off Toulon to watch the movements of the French ships. [1]
Battle
On 25 October 1809, the French squadron left their anchorage of Baie des Roses and sailed to the west, close to shore, with light winds from the east. The British resumed their chase, catching up on the French, as the wind was stronger further off at sea. Baudin ordered Pauline to run to Sète to warn of the incoming British squadron and have coastal defences manned and ready. At 11:30, the French ships started to touch bottom, and Baudin gave freedom of manoeuver to his captains. Borée managed to reach deeped waters, but Robuste and Lion ran aground. [2]
Robuste and Lion rested on a bed of rock and hard sand, Lion east of Robuste, both ships out of range of the British. Meanwhile, Pauline and Borée came in range and exchanged a few shots with HMS Tigre and Leviathan . Captain Senez, of Borée, planned to anchor off Sète, but Ensign Vallat, captain of the aviso Provençale, which was patrolling the area, offered to pilot Borée into the harbour. The manœuver succeeded, putting Borée out of reach of the British squadron. Pauline mirrored the actions of Borée and also entered the port. [2]
With the sea growing heavier, the British stayed off Baudin's ships, but Robuste and Lion were sustaining increasing damage and leaking water. [2] It soon became obvious that the ships could not be raised, and would have to be abandoned and scuttled. [3] General Frégeville, commander of the local national guard, requisitioned boats and mobilised national guards from Montpellier to assist in rescue operations. In the early morning of the 26th, Frégeville went on Robuste to confer with Baudin and offer assistance, and they decided to set a battery on the shore and light fires, as to deter an assault by British boats. They started evacuating the crew and stripping the ships from all useful equipment. In the afternoon, the British ships closed in and launched boats; the French fired on them with four- and six-pounder field guns that Frégeville had had installed aft of Robuste, and launched their own boats to engage the British party. At 18:30, Baudin signaled that he was about to set his ships on fire. [4] Robuste and Lion exploded in the night. [3]
On 1 November, British cutting out parties from HMS Tigre, Cumberland, Apollo, Topaze, Volontaire, Scout, Philomel and Ronco, attacked the convoy anchored at Baie des Roses. [3] The transports were protected by the 18-gun fluyt Lamproie, [note 2] under Captain Jacques Labretesche, [note 3] [5] the avisos Victoire and Grondeur, and the pink Normande. [note 4] [6] Some of the British boats took heavy casualties in the clash. [7] Still, they captured three merchantmen, and set ten ships on fire, including Lamproie. The avisoVictoire, under Garibou, resisted three boarding attempts [3] before being destroyed. [8]
Count Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume was a French Navy officer and Vice-admiral.
Tigre was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Later it was captured by the British and, as HMS Tigre, operated as part of the Royal Navy throughout the Napoleonic Wars.
Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez was a French naval officer and nobleman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Willaumez joined the French Navy at the age of 14, and proved to be a competent sailor. Having risen to the rank of pilot, he started studying navigation, attracting the attention of his superiors up to Louis XVI himself. Willaumez eventually became an officer and served under Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in his expedition to rescue Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse and explore the Indian Ocean and Oceania.
Jean Bart was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
Pauline was a 44-gun Hortense-class frigate of the French Navy.
Pierre-François-Henri-Étienne Bouvet de Maisonneuve was a French Navy officer and privateer.
Robuste was an 80-gun Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, designed by Jacques-Noël Sané.
Amélie was a 46-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy.
HMS Topaze was a Royal Navy 32-gun frigate, originally completed in 1791 as a French Magicienne-class frigate. In 1793 Lord Hood's fleet captured her at Toulon. The Royal Navy took her into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1814.
Lion was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
Volontaire was a 40-gun Virginie-class frigate of the French Navy.
The Donawerth was an 80-gun Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, designed by Sané.
Borée was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.
François-André Baudin was a French naval officer. His nephew Auguste Baudin was a colonial governor and naval officer.
Créole was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy, a one-off design by Jacques-Augustin Lamothe. The French Navy loaned her to a privateer in 1797. Later, she served in the Brest squadron, took part in Ganteaume's expeditions of 1801 to Egypt, and was involved in the French acquisition of Santo Domingo and briefly detained Toussaint Louverture before he was brought to France. The 74-gun ships HMS Vanguard and HMS Cumberland captured her in Santo Domingo on 30 June 1803. The Royal Navy took her into service but she foundered soon afterwards during an attempt to sail to Britain; her crew were rescued.
Jean-Michel Mahé was a French Navy officer and captain.
The action of 27 February 1809 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars. Two 44-gun frigates, Pénélope and Pauline, sortied from Toulon harbour to chase a British frigate, HMS Proserpine, which was conducting surveillance of French movements. First sneaking undetected and later trying to pass herself as a British frigate coming to relieve Proserpine, Pénélope approached within gun range before being identified. With the help of Pauline, she subdued Proserpine and forced her to surrender after a one-hour fight.
Renard was an Abeille-class 16-gun brig of the French Navy, launched in 1810 in Genoa. She is known for her battle against the brig HMS Swallow, one of the early feats of then-Lieutenant Charles Baudin.
Réolaise was a 20-gun ship-corvette of the French Navy. Originally a British merchantman, she was built in England, and captured by the French and taken into naval service in 1793. She served as a convoy escort until she ran aground in combat in 1800 at Port Navalo; her crew scuttled her by fire.
Louis-André Senez was an officer of the French Navy during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United Kingdom 
France 
