The action of 15 July 1805 was a small naval action that took place off

Chausey Chausey () is a group of small islands, islets and rocks off the coast of Normandy, in the English Channel. It lies from Granville and forms a ''quartier'' of the Granville commune in the Manche ''département''. Chausey forms part of the Chann ...

, on the coast of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, involving two British

gun-brig A gun-brig was a small brig-rigged warship that enjoyed popularity in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, during which large numbers were purchased or built. In general these were vessels of under 200 tons burthen, and thus smaller than ...

s on one side, and vessels on the other. The becalmed gun-brigs became easy targets for the oar-powered gunboats, which were able to manoeuver as to overpower them and force their surrender. Also, the French vessels were armed with guns, which outranged the

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

s that constituted the bulk of the British gunboat's armament.

Battle

In July 1805 , together with her sister-ship , were part of the Royal Navy force blockading the coat of northern France. On 15 July the two gun-brigs were off

Granville, Manche Granville (; Norman: ''Graunville'') is a commune in the Manche department and region of Normandy, northwestern France. The chef-lieu of the canton of Granville and seat of the ', it is a seaside resort and health resort of Mont Saint-Michel Ba ...

when they became becalmed. To avoid the tide carrying them onto the coast, the two anchored in the afternoon off

. The news that the gun-brigs were anchored off Chausey was carried to Commander Joseph Collet, commanding officer of the 1st gunboat division of the

Boulogne Flotilla The Flottille de Boulogne was a large fleet of small gunboats, brigs and barges built in Boulogne on the orders of First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte from 1801. It was a key component of Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom. Prelude ...

stationed in Granville. Collet departed Granville on 15 July at 21:00, leading seven gunboats and a dogger, or six gunboats, a schooner, and a ketch. A heavy fog came up and at 2:30 am on 16 July, several French vessels were seen to emerge from the darkness. ''Plumper'' attempted to get closer to ''Teazer'' so that they could support each other, but was unable to so. The French force, which consisted of six brigs, a schooner, and a ketch, stood off and battered ''Plumper'' with their guns. ''Plumper'' returned fire, but being armed primarily with carronades, was outranged. During the exchange of fire, Lieutenant James Henry Garrety, ''Plumper''s captain, had an arm shot off, a leg crippled by grapeshot, and his chest lacerated by a piece of

langrage Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies. However, canister shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various ...

. Four seamen were also wounded. After an hour, Sub-Lieutenant Richards, who had taken over command after Garrety had been taken below, struck. Later, some of ''Plumper''s crew accused Richards of having too quickly surrendered.Hepper (1994), p.111. Having overpowered ''Plumper'', Collet anchored his vessels to give his rowers some rest. After daybreak, Collet pressed his attack on ''Teazer'', which struck at 7:30am.

Aftermath

The French took the two badly damaged gun-brigs into Granville. ''Plumper'' in particular was in a sinking condition, and barely reached Granville before she ran aground. Collet was slightly wounded by a splinter, but otherwise there were no reported casualties. ''Plumper'' was brought into service in the French Navy, where she served until 1827; from 1815 on her name was ''Argus''. ''Teazer'' was also commissioned in the French Navy, and served under the same name until and recaptured her on 15 August 1811.Troude, vol.4, p. 140 — 142.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * *Winfield, Rif & Stephen S Roberts (2015 Forthcoming) ''French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786 - 1862: Design Construction, Careers and Fates''. (Seaforth Publishing). {{ISBN, 9781848322042 Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars Naval battles involving France Naval battles involving the United Kingdom Conflicts in 1805 Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom 1805 in France War of the Third Coalition Battles of the War of the Third Coalition July 1805 events