The action of 18 October 1782 was a minor naval engagement of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, in which the French

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

''Scipion'', accompanied by the 40-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

''Sibylle'', was chased by two

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

ships of the line, the 98-gun HMS ''London'' and the 74-gun ''Torbay''. Outmanoeuvring her larger opponents, ''Scipion'' obtained a favourable position that allowed her to rake ''London'', causing severe damage and allowing her to continue running from the superior British force. ''Scipion'' went to anchor in

Samaná Bay Samaná Bay is a bay in the eastern Dominican Republic. The Yuna River flows into Samaná Bay, and it is located south of the town of Samaná and the Samaná Peninsula. Wildlife Among its features are protected islands that serve as nesting site ...

but while doing so hit a rock and sank, while ''Sibylle'' succeeded in escaping the area.

Action

On 17 October 1782, during the

, a British squadron consisting of the 98-gun

HMS ''London'', 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Torbay'', and 14-gun

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

HMS ''Badger'' was sailing off the coast of

San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...

when they spotted two strange sails. The squadron chased the ships to the north-west and discovered them to be the French 74-gun ship of the line ''Scipion'' and her consort the 40-gun

''Sibylle''. At 2:24 p.m. ''London'', Captain James Kempthorne, had succeeded in coming within range of ''Scipion'', Captain Nicolas Henri de Grimouard, and the two ships of the line began a running fight mostly with the use of their

chase gun A chase gun (or chaser), usually distinguished as bow chaser and stern chaser, was a cannon mounted in the bow (aiming forward) or stern (aiming backward) of a sailing ship. They were used to attempt to slow down an enemy ship either chasing ( ...

s and the occasional

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

from ''London''. ''Sibylle'' went to the assistance of her compatriot and attacked ''London''s bow as she concentrated on ''Scipion'', inflicting much damage. ''London'' continued to close on ''Scipion'' until finally at 8:30 p.m. they began to trade broadsides alongside each other. The bombardment continued until 8:50 p.m. when the two ships of the line crashed together, with ''Scipion''s

cathead A cathead is a large wooden beam located on either side of the bow of a sailing ship, and angled forward at roughly 45 degrees. The beam is used to support the ship's anchor when raising it (weighing anchor) or lowering it (letting go), and for ...

coming alongside ''London''s

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

gangway Broadly speaking, a gangway is a passageway through which to enter or leave. Gangway may refer specifically refer to: Passageways * Gangway (nautical), a passage between the quarterdeck and the forecastle of a ship, and by extension, a passage th ...

. The close proximity of the vessels allowed muskets and other small arms to come into effect, with each side firing into the groups of men operating their opponent's upper deck guns and causing much carnage. Soon however ''Scipion'' managed to get clear of her opponent by backing away from her, and sailed

astern This list of ship directions provides succinct definitions for terms applying to spatial orientation in a marine environment or location on a vessel, such as ''fore'', ''aft'', ''astern'', ''aboard'', or ''topside''. Terms * Abaft (preposition ...

of her, where she raked ''London''. The fire of ''Scipion'', going from stern to bow of the British ship, destroyed much of her rigging and masts, leaving her disabled. While ''Scipion'' had been manoeuvring around ''London'', ''Torbay'', Captain John Gidoin, had finally managed to come into action and began firing into ''Scipion''s

larboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

side, but the now-disabled ''London'' crashed into her as she went about her work, leaving both British ships tangled together. At 10:20 p.m. ''Scipion'' stopped firing and ''Sibylle'' escaped from the action. Concluding that the French ship of the line had surrendered, ''London'' attempted to come up and take possession of her, but was unable to do so because of the state of her rigging. Kempthorne charged Gidoin with sailing towards ''Scipion'', but while this was happening the French ship caught a gust of wind and began to sail away. After re-organising themselves the British ships began their chase once again. They did so through the night of 17–18 October, but despite exchanging some shots the French succeeded in lengthening the distance between them and their pursuers, so that by the morning of 18 October ''Torbay'', the lead ship, was a mile and a half behind ''Scipion''. By 3:30 p.m. ''Torbay'' had succeeded in gaining ground on ''Scipion'' and Gidoin began to fire into her, at which point ''Scipion'' sailed into

, in what is now the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, and attempted to anchor there. Having credibly escaped an enemy force of over double her strength, she then struck a rock and sank in the bay. ''Scipion'' was a total loss but her crew escaped almost intact from the action.

Aftermath

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

made Grimouard, who had been wounded in the action, a

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

for his actions in fighting off and then successfully escaping the superior British squadron, and commissioned a painting of the action from

Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy (22 June 1736 – 27 February 1804) was a French Navy officer and painter of the 18th century. He especially painted naval scenes. Biography Cercy was born in Dompierre-sur-Mer in 1736 from an aristocratic f ...

. Kempthorne was put in front of a court of enquiry because of his inability to take ''Scipion'' in open action, but he was honourably acquitted of all charges.

Combatant summary

''In this table, "Guns" refers to all

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

carried by the ship, including the maindeck guns which were taken into consideration when calculating its rate, as well as any

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 carried aboard. Broadside weight records the combined weight of shot which could be fired in a single simultaneous discharge of an entire

.''

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * {{cite book, last1=Gardiner, first1=Robert, title=Navies and the American Revolution, date=1996, location=Annapolis, Maryland, publisher=Naval Institute Press, isbn=9781557506238, url=https://archive.org/details/naviesamericanre0000unse Conflicts in 1782 Naval battles involving France Naval battles involving Great Britain Naval battles of the Anglo-French War (1778–1783) 1782 in the Caribbean