After a five-year spell in the West Indies, Brunswick returned home and was refitted at Portsmouth. In 1807, when Denmark was under threat from a French invasion, Brunswick was part of a task force, under overall command of James Gambier, sent to demand the surrender of the Danish fleet. When the Danes refused to comply, Brunswick joined in with an attack on the capital, Copenhagen. She returned to the Baltic some months later, following the Treaty of Tilsit and, while attached to Richard Goodwin Keats' squadron, she helped with the evacuation of 10,000 Spanish troops from the region. From 1812 Brunswick was on harbour service, and in 1826 she was broken up.
Construction and armament
Brunswick was a 74-gun, third-rateship-of-the-line ordered on 7 January 1785. She was the first of her type built following the American Revolutionary war and was significantly larger than previous 74s. The Admiralty approved the design on 10 January 1785 and work began in May 1786 when her keel, of 145feet 2inches (44.2m) was laid down at Deptford. When finished, she was 176feet 0inches (53.6m) along the gun deck, had a beam of 48feet 8inches (14.8m) and a depth in the hold of 19feet 6inches (5.9m). She was 1,82872⁄94tons burthen and drew between 13ft 0in (3.96m) and 16ft 7in (5.05m).[2]
The ship was initially designed to carry a main battery of twenty-eight 32-pounder (15kg) guns on the lower deck and thirty 18-pounder (8.2kg) on the upper deck, with a secondary armament of twelve 9-pounder (4.1kg) guns on the quarterdeck and four on the forecastle. She was launched on 30 April 1790 and taken down the Thames to Woolwich where she was fitted-out between 17 May and 18 June. Her build and first fitting cost the Admiralty£47,781.0.0d.[2]
In December 1806, Brunswick's armament was changed so that all her guns fired a 24-pounder (11kg) shot. This meant that the guns on the lower deck were downgraded while those on the upperdeck were upgraded. The guns on the forecastle were replaced with two 24-pounder long guns and four 24-pounder carronades, and on the quarterdeck, the twelve 9-pounders were removed to make way for two long guns and ten carronades, all 24-pounders.[2] The great guns on the upper decks were mounted on Gover carriages which enabled them to be handled by fewer men.[3][2]
Career
Brunswick's first captain, Sir Hyde Parker, was appointed in May 1790 during the Spanish Armament. At the end of that year he was superseded by Sir Roger Curtis, under whom Brunswick spent most of 1791 at Spithead until the settlement of the Russian Armament, without hostility, in late August. She then paid off, but was immediately recommissioned to serve as a guardship in Portsmouth Harbour, and continued in that role through 1792, except for a brief period spent in the "Evolution Squadron".[4] On 29 October 1792, three condemned mutineers of the Mutiny on the Bounty were hanged from her yardarms.[5]
Following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War, Captain John Harvey took command of Brunswick, and saw service in the Channel Fleet under the overall command of Admiral Earl Howe. As part of this fleet, on 2May 1794, she accompanied the East and West India and Newfoundland convoys along the Channel as far as Lizard Point. Howe then divided his force, sending eight ships-of-the-line and four or five frigates to escort the convoys further while the remaining 26 ships-of-the-line, including Brunswick, set off to search for a large Franco-American grain convoy known to be heading for France.[6]
Howe realised that the French fleet at Brest would be detailed to escort the grain convoy through hostile waters. Having had two frigates confirm that the French fleet was still in port, Howe attempted to intercept the convoy in advance by placing his ships where he thought an encounter most likely. After thirteen days of searching however, the British fleet returned on 19May, to find the fleet in Brest gone. It had in fact passed close by the British ships, in thick fog, two days previously on 17May.[7] On the evening of 19 May, Howe's fleet fell in with the fifth-rate HMSVenus, which had been attached to Rear-Admiral Sir George Montagu's squadron. Also searching for the convoy, Montagu had been cruising between Cape Ortugal and Belle-Isle, but knowing he would be hopelessly outnumbered, he had sent Venus to locate Howe and ask for reinforcements.[8] At 04:00 the next morning, Howe ordered all sail in an attempt to reach Montagu before the French. However, part of a Dutch convoy, which had been captured by the French on 19 May, was recaptured by the Howe's fleet on 21 May, and the former prisoners were able to provide information regarding the whereabouts of the French fleet. In light of this new information, Howe realised that Montagu was no longer in danger and altered course to pursue the French.[9]
The British and French fleets on the morning of 1June 1794
On 25 May a French ship was seen and followed, which after three days led the British to the main French fleet.[11] Howe gave the order to prepare for battle at 09:45 on 28May and at 10:35 to form into two columns. In an attempt to force an action, some of the fastest ships were sent to attack the French rear, which they did throughout the day, both causing and receiving some damage.[12] The two fleets came together on 29May, and a limited engagement took place that petered out and became a general chase after an attempt to cut the French line was mistimed.[13] Thick fog prevented any further action for the next two days.[14]
The weather cleared on the morning of 1 June, and both fleets were drawn up line ahead, sailing in the same direction, Brunswick in the centre, immediately behind Hood's flagship, the first-rateQueen Charlotte and in front of Valiant. At around 08:15 the order was given for each ship to bear down upon and engage her opposite number.[15]Brunswick was one of three ships Howe signalled to put on more sail.[16] The tardiness of Brunswick and the 74-gun Gibraltar, on the other side of Queen Charlotte, meant that Howe found himself battling one 120-gun and two 80-gun ships simultaneously.[17]
Brunswick (centre), following her engagement with Vengeur du Peuple (left) and Achille (right), on 1 June 1794
Gibraltar was, however, able to stop a fourth enemy ship, the first-rate Républicain, from joining in, by bringing down her main and mizzen masts from a distance, while Brunswick, having made all sail as directed, was close enough to draw the fire of the Vengeur du Peuple.[18] Unable to pass astern, Harvey had his ship come hard alongside and the two became locked together; the Brunswick's anchors fouling on Vengeur's fore-shrouds and channels.[19] When asked whether they should attempt to cut Brunswick free, Harvey replied, "No, we have got her and we will keep her". The British, prevented from opening their lower gun ports by the pressure exerted by the hull of Vengeur du Peuple, simply shot through them and the two ships drifted out of the line as they exchanged broadsides.[20]
A while later, at 11:00, a second French ship, Achille, attempted to join the action but Brunswick shot away her only remaining mast, which fell over the side and obstructed her guns. Unable to return fire or manoeuvre, she was forced to strike. When it became apparent that she could not be taken possession of, Achille spread her spritsail, rehoisted her colours and tried to make her escape.[21]Henry Harvey in HMSRamillies then sailed to his brother's aid; raking Vengeur du Peuple twice and forcing the two ships apart, before turning to secure Achille.[22]
By the end of the action, Vengeur had sunk from the damage inflicted by Brunswick and six other French ships had been captured. The remainder escaped.[23] In the three engagements, it was estimated that French casualties were between 3,000 and 7,000 dead and wounded, while British losses were recorded as 290 dead and 858 wounded.[24]Brunswick had been badly damaged; she had lost her mizzen mast completely, her yards were shattered and her sails and rigging had been shot away, 23 guns had been dismounted, she had been on fire three times and her starboard quarter gallery was missing. She drifted away to leeward of the retreating enemy fleet, but made all available sail to head northward for the safety of a home port.[25] Having had 45 killed and 114 wounded, including Captain Harvey who died of the wounds later, Brunswick had suffered the highest casualty toll of any Royal Navy ship present at the battle.[26] After Harvey had been carried below, Lieutenant William Edward Cracraft was made acting captain.[21] Despite his own ship's condition, when the dismasted French ship Jemmapes was encountered, at 15:00, Cracraft had Brunswick hove to with the intention of engaging. Jemmapes however indicated that she had already struck.[25]
In 1795, Brunswick, under Captain Lord Charles Fitzgerald, was attached to William Cornwallis's squadron in the Channel. On the morning of 8 June, Cornwallis' force comprising five ships-of-the-line, two frigates and a small brig-sloop, was cruising southwards along the Breton coast and past the Penmarck Rocks, when at 10:30, HMS Triumph signalled the presence of six sails to the north-east. Cornwallis turned his squadron to investigate and discovered the ships were part of a large merchant convoy, escorted by three ships-of-the-line and six or seven frigates under the overall command of Contre-Amiral Jean Gaspard Vence.[27] At first, the convoy sailed towards Cornwallis's squadron, believing it to be French. When the mistake was realised, at 12:00, Vence ordered his ships towards Belle Île, where they could shelter beneath the gun batteries. Cornwallis sent his fastest ships ahead, to engage the trailing ships of the convoy and try to force an action but, despite taking eight prizes, they were not able to do so.[28][29]
Prevented from pressing their attack by the shoal waters and batteries, the British anchored in the Palais Road, close to the island, where they remained until the following evening. On 9 June, they sailed into the Bay of Biscay and around Ushant headland, reaching the Scilly Isles on 11 June. The eight brigs taken off Belle Ile and two American vessels captured after, were at that point, sent into Spithead under escort off the 18-gun HMSKingfisher. The remaining ships turned back towards Belle Île, in the hope that by then, Vence's squadron would be in open water.[29][30]
On 15 June, Vence's squadron was sailing off the island of Groix, when it encountered a French fleet under Villaret de Joyeuse, which had sailed from Brest on 12 June and comprised nine ships-of-the-line, nine frigates (including two ships of the line razeed into 50-gun frigates) and four corvettes. The two forces joined and turned north. On 16 June, the French fleet was off Penmarck Point when, at 10:30, Cornwallis's squadron was spotted to the north-west.[31] Cornwallis was anticipating Vence's merchant convoy which had arrived at its destination some days previous, and did not immediately understand the danger his squadron was in. HMSPhaeton, having been sent ahead to investigate, added to the confusion when she signalled to Cornwallis that the French fleet contained 30 vessels, but did not return. This caused Cornwallis to take the signal to mean that the French ships, while more numerous, were inferior in strength.[32][28]
At 11:00, seeing that Cornwallis was still advancing, Phaeton signalled the exact composition of Villaret's fleet. The British squadron, now realising the danger, turned away to the south-west, with Brunswick leading the line and the French in pursuit. Having followed the British out into the Atlantic, at 14:00, Villaret's fleet divided with one part sailing north to cut Cornwallis off, while the other maintained its course to the south. By 18:00 the northern squadron had overhauled the British who found themselves directly between the two French divisions, no more than 9 nautical miles (17km) from each.[33]
The chase continued into the night with Brunswick and HMSBellerophon struggling to keep station. In an effort to increase their speed, the two ships jettisoned their anchors, boats and much of their provisions. Bellerophon was sailing so slowly that her captain, James Cranstoun, ordered four carronades and a large amount of roundshot to be thrown over the side.[33] At 09:00, Zélé, the leading French ship in the windward squadron was close enough to open to fire on the British rearguard ship, HMSMars. The action was soon joined by the 40-gun frigate Virginie which came up on Mars' port quarter. Concerned that Bellerophon, which was close by, might lose a sail, a loss she could not sustain, Cornwallis ordered Triumph and Royal Sovereign to drop back and allow Bellerophon to join Brunswick at the front.[34] This reorganisation of the line slowed the entire squadron and put all the ships in range of the French vanguard. The British cut holes in the stern planks of their ships to allow more cannon to be trained on Villaret's advancing fleet. This tactic appeared to be successful, and at 13:30, the leading French ship was forced to fall back when she lost her main topgallant mast.[35]
The French continued their attack on the British rear and, after a further four hours, Mars began to fall away to leeward. Seeing this, Royal Sovereign and Triumph yawed, raking the four French ships heading to cut her off and take possession of her.[36] This action caused the French ships to haul to wind and Mars was able to rejoin her squadron. A more distant engagement then took place which petered out just after 18:30 when the French broke off the attack and turned away to the east.[35]Phaeton, some miles ahead, had spent all day signalling to an imaginary fleet over the horizon. By coincidence at 18:00 four small sail appeared in the distance which, coupled with Phaeton'sruse de guerre was enough to convince Villaret that the British fleet was arriving.[37][38]
Service in the West Indies
Later in June 1795, William Browell became Brunswick's captain and she served as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Rodney Bligh.[2] She sailed to the Windward Islands the following year, carrying Bligh who had been appointed second in command there. She arrived at Martinique in September but then immediately left for Jamaica; Bligh having received orders to take command of that station until the arrival of Hyde Parker.[39]
In 1797, Brunswick was in the Leeward Islands under captain William Gordon Rutherford.[2] While cruising with her squadron, between 26 June and 21 July 1797, Brunswick captured a Spanish schooner on its way from St Domingo to Jamaica and detained a vessel under Danish colours which was travelling between St Thomas and New Orleans.[40] In the following three months, she took a second Spanish schooner, out of La Guaira, a Danish schooner bound for Charleston and a Danish brig on its way to St Thomas.[41] American and Spanish brigs were taken between the end of 1799 and the following February.[42] Another Spanish schooner was apprehended between February and May 1800.[43]
In September Brunswick returned to England and paid off. She was refitted at Portsmouth between February and April the following year.
In 1807, with Denmark under threat from Napoleon's forces, Brunswick took part in an expedition to prevent the Danish fleet falling into French hands.[44] Following the defeat of Prussia in December 1806, Denmark's continuing independence looked increasingly fragile. It was feared that Denmark, under pressure from France, might deny Britain access to the Baltic Sea, something the British believed vital for trade as well as being a major source of the raw materials required for building and maintaining their warships. Brunswick was one of 17 ships-of-the-line, together with 21 smaller vessels, sent to demand the surrender of the Danish fleet. Under overall command of James Gambier, the British fleet left Great Yarmouth on 26 July.[45] On arrival off Gothenburg, on 1 August, Gambier despatched four ships-of-the-line and two frigates to guard the Great Belt and stop reinforcements being brought in from Holstein, where a Danish army of 24,000 was camped. Brunswick remained with the main force.[46] Over the next twelve days more ships arrived, swelling the British force to 25 ships-of-the-line, 40 smaller warships, and 377 transports carrying 27,000 troops.[47]
On 10 August, having refused initial demands by the British, the Danes made further preparations to defend their city – already heavily fortified with 174 guns of 24 and 36lb, and 25 of the largest calibre mortars available.[48] Additionally, and separate from the fleet moored in the harbour, a 64-gun blockship guarded the entrance with four 20-gun prames, two floating batteries and 25–30 gunboats. There were 5,500 troops stationed in Copenhagen and around 3,000 sailors. A contingent of 3,500 armed civilians also remained but the rest of the population was evacuated, while negotiations with the British continued.[48]
Copenhagen after the bombardment painted by J. D. Moller
Although no formal state of war existed at the time, on 13 August, a seventy-four and a sloop of war from Gambier's fleet pursued and, eventually, engaged and captured the Danish frigate, Frederickscoarn. On 16 August the King of Denmark ordered that all British vessels should be seized and detained; and on 17 August, Danish gunboats left the harbour and set fire to an English merchant barque.[44] The British landed a contingent of troops 12 miles north of the city on 16 August, the fleet returning to Copenhagen later the following day, where Gambier issued a retaliatory proclamation that all Danish vessels were to be detained.[44]Brunswick was soon in accord through the capture of two enemy craft.[49] Further skirmishes occurred between 18–21 August while the British landed their remaining troops, invested the island with their ships and instituted a close blockade.[44] As the troops moved to lay siege to the city and construct batteries, they received heavy fire from Danish gunboats, which in turn were harassed by the smaller ships from the British fleet.[50]
By 1 September, the French had arrived at Strasland and Gambier was obliged to send more of his ships to blockade the port and prevent the passage of reinforcements to Zealand. Having now completed batteries for 48 mortars and howitzers plus twenty 24lb long guns, the commander of the British army, William Cathcart, and Gambier made a final appeal to the Danes, this time offering to return the ships at the end of hostilities. An agreement could not be reached, however, and the following day the British opened fire on the city.[51] The bombardment continued, on and off, until 5 September, during which time much of the city had been destroyed. The terms of the capitulation were ratified on 7 September and the British occupied the city while the ships of the Danish fleet were either removed or destroyed.[52] Of the prizes taken, 18 were ships-of-the-line, 10 were frigates and 14 were sloops-of-war, including Little Belt. In addition, 25 gunboats were confiscated.[53]
Following the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia became an enemy of the United Kingdom and Sweden,[54] and in May 1808, Brunswick was sent back to the Baltic; part of a fleet, under James Saumarez.[55] While attached to Richard Goodwin Keats' squadron in August, Brunswick assisted in the evacuation of 10,000 Spanish troops from the region.[56] Initially fighting for Napoleon in Northern Germany and Denmark, the Spaniards had changed allegiance following the occupation of their country by the French. Keats in HMSSuperb, accompanied by Brunswick, HMSEdgar and five or six smaller vessels were in close proximity at the time and were contacted by the Spanish commander-in-chief, the Marquis de la Romana, with a view to joining forces.[57] On 9 August a plan was formulated for the Spaniards to seize the fort and town of Nyborg, allowing Keats' squadron to take possession of the port and organise the evacuation. The Danes were informed that, providing they did not interfere with the operation, the town would be spared. All were in agreement except for the captains of a 16-gun brig and a 12-gun cutter, who positioned their vessels across the harbour entrance.[56] These were captured by British sailors in a cutting-out expedition and taken into service as HMSFama and HMSSalorman. Prevented from taken his squadron into the harbour by contrary winds, Keats had 57 local boats loaded with the Spaniards' stores and artillery and taken to Slipshavn, four miles to the south-east, where, on 11 August, the troops were able to embark.[56]
Fate
In 1812 Brunswick was on harbour service, and she was broken up in 1826.[1]
The Glorious First of June, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars.
The Battle of Groix was a large naval engagement which took place near the island of Groix off the Biscay coast of Brittany on 23 June 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought between elements of the British Channel Fleet and the French Atlantic Fleet, which were cruising in the region on separate missions. The British fleet, commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport, was covering an invasion convoy carrying a French Royalist army to invade Quiberon, while the French under Vice-admiral Villaret de Joyeuse had sailed a week earlier to rescue a French convoy from attack by a British squadron. The French fleet had driven off the British squadron in a battle on 17 June known as Cornwallis's Retreat, and were attempting to return to their base at Brest when Bridport's force of 14 ships of the line appeared on 22 June.
Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, was a Royal Navy officer. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British commander at the siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis took part in a number of decisive battles including the siege of Louisbourg in 1758, when he was 14, and the Battle of the Saintes but is best known as a friend of Lord Nelson and as the commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. He is depicted in the Horatio Hornblower novel, Hornblower and the Hotspur.
The action of 6 November 1794 was a naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars. Two British ships of the line, HMS Alexander and HMS Canada were intercepted while returning to Britain through the Celtic Sea by a large French squadron. The French squadron had sailed from Brest in search of an inward bound British convoy in October, but instead encountered the two British ships returning from escorting an outward-bound convoy. There had been no warning of the French approach as the British force assigned to watch Brest was absent at Plymouth due to the policy of operating a distant blockade.
Vengeur du Peuple was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Funded by a don des vaisseaux donation from the chamber of commerce of Marseille, she was launched in 1762 as Marseillois.
HMS Latona was a 36-gun, fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served during the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. Shortly after her launch in 1781, she participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank against a Dutch squadron in the North Sea. In September 1782, Latona took part in the relief of Gibraltar and was the first ship in the convoy to pass through the Straits, when Richard Howe sent her ahead, to spy on the condition of the Franco-Spanish fleet in Algeciras Bay.
Vengeur ("Avenger") was a first-rate 118-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, of the Océan type, designed by Jacques-Noël Sané. She was the first ship in French service to sport 18-pounder long guns on her third deck, instead of the lighter 12-pounder long guns used before for this role.
HMS Sultan was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 December 1775 at Harwich. Built to take part in the American Revolutionary War, her departure was delayed due to a shortage of crew and it was 9 June 1778 before she finally sailed as part of a squadron led by Rear-Admiral John Byron. In September she was with Richard Howe's fleet, blockading the French in Boston and in 1779, transferred to the West Indies, where she took part in the Battle of Grenada that July. Almost a year later, on 20 June 1780, she was involved in a short action off the coast of the Dominican Republic with a superior French force.
Fénix was an 80-gun ship of the line (navio) of the Spanish Navy, built by Pedro de Torres at Havana in accordance with the system laid down by Antonio Gaztaneta launched in 1749. In 1759, she was sent to bring the new king, Carlos III, from Naples to Barcelona. When Spain entered the American Revolutionary War in June 1779, Fénix set sail for the English Channel where she was to join a Franco-Spanish fleet of more than 60 ships of the line under Lieutenant General Luis de Córdova y Córdova. The Armada of 1779 was an invasion force of 40,000 troops with orders to capture the British naval base at Portsmouth.
The Atlantic campaign of May 1794 was a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy's Channel Fleet against the French Navy's Atlantic Fleet, with the aim of preventing the passage of a strategically important French grain convoy travelling from the United States to France. The campaign involved commerce raiding by detached forces and two minor engagements, eventually culminating in the full fleet action of the Glorious First of June 1794, at which both fleets were badly mauled and both Britain and France claimed victory. The French lost seven ships of the line; the British none, but the battle distracted the British fleet long enough for the French convoy to safely reach port.
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres 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 campaign followed directly from the Trafalgar campaign of the year before, in which the French Mediterranean fleet had crossed the Atlantic, returned to Europe and joined with the Spanish fleet. On 21 October 1805, this combined force was destroyed by a British fleet under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, although the campaign did not end until the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805. Believing that the French Navy would not be capable of organised resistance at sea during the winter, the First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Barham withdrew the British blockade squadrons to harbour. Barham had miscalculated – the French Atlantic fleet, based at Brest, had not been involved in the Trafalgar campaign and was therefore at full strength. Taking advantage of the reduction in the British forces off the port, Napoleon ordered two heavy squadrons to sea, under instructions to raid British trade routes while avoiding contact with equivalent Royal Navy forces.
Cornwallis's Retreat was a naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars in which a British Royal Navy squadron of five ships of the line and two frigates was attacked by a much larger French Navy fleet of 12 ships of the line and 11 frigates. The action took place in the waters off the west coast of Brittany on 16–17 June 1795.
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. With the French Mediterranean Fleet at sea, Emperor Napoleon I hoped to unite it with the French Atlantic Fleet and together form a force powerful enough to temporarily displace the British Royal Navy Channel Fleet for long enough to allow an invasion force to cross the English Channel and land in Britain. In support of this plan, the French squadron based at Rochefort put to sea in July 1805, initially with the intention that they would join the Atlantic Fleet from Brest. When this fleet failed to put to sea, the Rochefort squadron, under Contre-Admiral Zacharie Allemand, went on an extended raiding cruise across the Atlantic, both to intercept British trade left lightly defended by the concentration of British forces in European waters and with the intention of eventually combining with the French Mediterranean Fleet then blockaded in Spanish harbours.
The Biscay campaign of June 1795 consisted of a series of manoeuvres and two battles fought between the British Channel Fleet and the French Atlantic Fleet off the Southern coast of Brittany in the Bay of Biscay during the French Revolutionary Wars. In late May 1795, a British battle squadron of six ships of the line under Vice-Admiral William Cornwallis was sent by Admiral Lord Bridport to enforce the blockade of the French port of Brest, the home port of the French Atlantic Fleet. On 8 June, Cornwallis discovered a convoy of merchant vessels travelling from Bordeaux to Brest under the protection of a small squadron under Contre-amiral Jean Gaspard Vence. Cornwallis attacked the convoy, Vence retreating under the protection of batteries on the fortified island of Belle Île as Cornwallis seized eight ships from the convoy. As Cornwallis sent his prizes back to Britain the main French fleet at Brest under Vice-amiral Villaret de Joyeuse put to sea to protect Vence's remaining ships.
HMS Pearl was a fifth-rate, 32-gun British Royal Navy frigate of the Niger-class. Launched at Chatham Dockyard in 1762, she served in British North America until January 1773, when she sailed to England for repairs. Returning to North America in March 1776, to fight in the American Revolutionary War, Pearl escorted the transports which landed troops in Kip's Bay that September. Much of the following year was spent on the Delaware River where she took part in the Battle of Red Bank in October. Towards the end of 1777, Pearl joined Vice-Admiral Richard Howe's fleet in Narragansett Bay and was still there when the French fleet arrived and began an attack on British positions. Both fleets were forced to retire due to bad weather and the action was inconclusive. Pearl was then despatched to keep an eye on the French fleet, which had been driven into Boston.
HMS Roebuck was a fifth-rate ship of the Royal Navy which served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars. Designed in 1769 by Sir Thomas Slade to operate in the shallower waters of North America, she joined Lord Howe's squadron towards the end of 1775 and took part in operations against New York the following year. She engaged the American gun batteries at Red Hook during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776, and forced a passage up the Hudson River in October. On 25 August 1777, Roebuck escorted troopships to Turkey Point, Maryland, where an army was landed for an assault on Philadelphia. She was again called upon to accompany troopships in December 1779, this time for an attack on Charleston. When the ships-of-the-line, which were too large to enter the harbour, were sent back to New York, Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot made Roebuck his flagship. She was, therefore, at the front of the attack, leading the British squadron across the shoal to engage Fort Moultrie and the American ships beyond.
HMS Imperieuse was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built in Ferrol, Spain, for the Spanish Navy she was launched as Medea in 1797. In 1804 she was part of a squadron carrying gold from South America to Spain that was seized by the British while Spain and Britain were at peace. Medea was subsequently taken into service with the Royal Navy and was briefly named HMS Iphigenia before being renamed Imperieuse in 1805.
HMS Triton was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy designed by James Gambier and launched in 1796 at Deptford. Triton was an experimental ship and the only one built to that design; she was constructed out of fir due to wartime supply shortages of more traditional materials and had some unusual features such as no tumblehome. Her namesake was the Greek god Triton, a god of the sea. She was commissioned in June 1796 under Captain John Gore, with whom she would spend the majority of her active service, to serve in the Channel in the squadron of Sir John Warren.
HMS Sylph was a 16-gun Albatross-class brig-sloop of the Royal Navy designed by William Rule and launched in 1795 at Deptford Dockyard. Her namesake was the air spirit sylph. She commissioned in August 1795 under Commander John Chambers White, who would have her until the end of 1799. She was later commanded by Charles Dashwood.
Captain Jonas Rose was a Royal Navy officer during the American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He commanded at the Battles of Copenhagen in 1801 and 1807, and the operations in the Baltic that followed. On 16 June 1809, he wrecked his ship, HMS Agamemnon, off Maldonado, Uruguay, the second such accident of his career. He never commanded again and died in Portsmouth in 1820.
Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume IV. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN1-86176-013-2.
Harvey, Robert (2006). The War of Wars - The epic struggle between Britain and France: 1789-1815. London: Constable and Robinson Publishing. ISBN978-1-84529-635-3.
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