The action of 3 May 1810 was a naval engagement in the

Bay of Naples A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

between a

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 ...

frigate captained by

Jahleel Brenton Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice Admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, 1st Baronet, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, KCB (22 August 1770 – 21 April 1844) was a British officer in the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary Wars, F ...

and a French squadron of eleven warships. The British captured the French

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

''Sparviere'' during the battle.

Battle

On 1 May 1810, the ''

Spartan Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

'' and the ''

Success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person mig ...

'' were on reconnoitring duty. They pursued a French squadron, consisting of the 42-gun frigate ''Ceres'', 28-gun corvette ''Fame'', 8-gun brig ''Sparviere'' and the 10-gun cutter ''Achilles''. The French managed to take shelter in the harbour of Naples, and Captain

Brenton Brenton is an English place name and surname. The surname Brenton indicates that one's ancestors came from a place called Brenton near Exminster, Devon, south West England, the original meaning of which was "Bryni's homestead". Bryni was an Old Eng ...

of the ''Spartan'', realising they would never come out while the two British ships were there, ordered ''Success'' to a point south-west of

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

. At dawn on 3 May Brenton observed the French coming out, accompanied by eight Neapolitan gun-boats.Marshall, John (1824). ''Royal Naval Biography''
Vol. 2, Part 1
London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. pp. 267–269. The ''Success'' was unable to play any part in the action, being becalmed offshore. At Brenton's request,

George Charles Hoste Sir George Charles Hoste (10 March 1786 – 21 April 1845) was a British Army officer who fought in various battles and engagements of the Napoleonic Wars in Italy, Egypt, Belgium, and France between 1805 and 1815. The third son of a clergyma ...

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

, took command of the quarterdeck guns. After a hard-fought action in which Brenton was wounded badly, the ''Spartan'' succeeded in boarding and capturing the brig ''Sparviere'' and caused severe damage to the other ships. The ''Spartan'', having lost only ten killed and twenty-two wounded, stood in triumphantly with her prize to the Mole of Naples, where

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

had watched the fight.Vetch, Robert Hamilton (1901). "Hoste, George Charles". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

(1st supplement)''. Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 447–448. Captain Raffaele de Cosa of the ''Sparviere'' was taken prisoner and confined in Sicily; after five months he returned to the Kingdom of Naples as part of a

prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conventions Under the Geneva Convent ...

Order of battle

British * ''Spartan'', frigate, of 38 guns; ten killed and twenty-two wounded. French *''Ceres'' (''Cérère''), frigate, of 42 guns and 350 men; severely crippled, escaped under the batteries. *''Fame'' (''Fama''), corvette, of 28 guns and 260 men; lost her foretopmast, and otherwise severely crippled. *''Le Sparviere'' (''Sparvievo''), brig, of 8 guns and 98 men; taken. *''Achilles'' (''Achille''), cutter, of 10 guns and 80 men; escaped under the batteries. *7 or 8 gun-boats, each with one 24-pounder and 40 men.

Gallery

File:Bay of Naples, 1810 RCIN 735154.a.jpg, The ''Spartan'' and the French squadron. File:Bay of Naples, 1810 RCIN 735154.b.jpg, alt=The Spartan taking the Sparviere as a prize., The ''Spartan'' taking the ''Sparviere'' in tow.RCIN 735154.b - Bay of Naples, 1810"
. ''Royal Collection Trust''. Retrieved 7 December 2022.

References

{{Authority control Conflicts in 1810