The action of 23 April 1794 took place between a British squadron of five frigates under the command of

Sir John Borlase Warren Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet (2 September 1753 – 27 February 1822) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. Naval career Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamsh ...

and three frigates and a corvette under the command of

Chef d'escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally "squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chefs ...

F. Desgarceaux during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. Three of the French ships were captured.

The battle

On 21 April the frigate sighted four distant ships in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. The next morning ''Minerva'' met Warren's squadron, and passed this information on. Warren promptly set off in pursuit, and at dawn the next day, around 4 a.m., sighted three frigates and a corvette about seven or eight

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

s (24.5–28 nautical miles) south-west of Guernsey. The French formed a

line of battle The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...

, and Warren signalled his squadron to engage, with his own flagship in the lead, supported by . Taking advantage of the

weather gage The weather gage (sometimes spelled weather gauge) is the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel relative to another. It is also known as "nautical gauge" as it is related to the sea shore. The concept is from the Age of Sail and is now ...

the British were able to force the French into a close action which lasted for nearly three hours, before the and surrendered at around 11 a.m. The and attempted to escape, and Warren ordered , and to pursue, as ''Flora'' was in no condition to do so. After an hour ''Concorde'' caught up with ''Engageante'' and attempted to disable her, intending to then attack the ''Résolue'', leaving ''Engageante'' to ''Melampus'' and ''Nymphe'', which were following. However, while ''Concorde'' was engaged with ''Engageante'', the ''Résolue'' dropped back and laid herself across ''Concorde'' bows, badly damaging her sails and rigging to the point where she was disabled. Having made hasty repairs ''Concorde'' came up again to re-engage the ''Engageante'', which eventually surrendered at about 1.45 p.m. ''Résolue'' fired a few shots and then made off, pursued by ''Melampus'' and ''Nymphe'', who chased her into

Morlaix Morlaix (; br, Montroulez) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Leisure and tourism The old quarter of the town has winding streets of cobbled stones and overhan ...

, before returning to assist ''Concorde'' which was towing the crippled ''Engageante'' to port.

Ships

Britain

* , (36)

, flagship * , (38)

Sir Edward Pellew Admiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB (19 April 1757 – 23 January 1833) was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. His younger brother Is ...

* , (36) Thomas Wells * , (32) Sir Richard Strachan * , (36) George Murray

France

* , (26) F. Desgarceaux, flagship - captured by ''Concorde'' * , (44)

Étienne Pévrieu Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Scientists and inventors ...

- captured by ''Arethusa'' * , (36) Antoine-Marie-François Montalan - escaped * , (22) Pierre-Joseph-Paul Belhomme - captured by ''Arethusa''

References

* {{coord missing, Channel Islands 1794 in France Conflicts in 1794 Naval battles of the French Revolutionary Wars Naval battles involving Great Britain Naval battles involving France

The battle

Ships

Britain

France

See also

References