The action of 30 September 1780 was a minor naval engagement off the Bermudas, where captured ''Espérance'', a French frigate of 32 guns launched in 1779.
HMS ''Pearl'' under the command of
George Montagu was sent out to
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, and on 30 September 1780, soon encountered a frigate off the Bermudas. As ''Pearl'' closed Montagu cleared for action and engaged close for two hours, then maintained a running fight for a further two hours and more when the frigate struck.
The prize turned out to be the French frigate ''Espérance'' of about 850 tons of thirty-two guns consisting of twelve- and six-pounders, nearly 200 men and with a valuable cargo heading from
Cape Francois to
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
. ''Espérance'' lost 20 killed and 24 wounded as well as the crew and marines captured, while ''Pearl''s losses were six killed and ten wounded. The captured French frigate was put into Royal Naval service and renamed HMS ''Clinton''.
[Allen p. 268]
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Action of 30 September 1780
Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War
Naval battles involving France
Naval battles involving Great Britain
Conflicts in 1780
History of Bermuda