Action Of 7 February 1813
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During the night of 7 February 1813, two evenly matched
frigates 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 ...
from the
French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
and the British
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 ...
, '' Aréthuse'' and , engaged in a battle in the Atlantic Ocean at the
Îles de Los Îles de Los are an island group lying off Conakry in Guinea, on the west coast of Africa. Their name is derived from the Portuguese: ''Ilhas dos Ídolos'', "Islands of the Idols". They are located about off the headland limiting the southern ...
, off
Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
. The action lasted four hours, causing significant damage and casualties to both opponents, and resulted in a stalemate. The two ships parted and returned to their respective ports of call, both sides claiming victory.


Background

After the British victory in the
Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 The Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 was a series of amphibious operations and naval actions fought to determine possession of the French Indian Ocean territories of Isle de France and Île Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign la ...
, all French possessions in the Indian Ocean were now controlled by the British. France had already lost the use of
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
in 1806 after the
Battle of Blaauwberg The Battle of Blaauwberg, also known as the Battle of Cape Town, fought near Cape Town on Wednesday 8 January 1806, was a small but significant military engagement. After a British victory, peace was made under the Treaty Tree in Woodstock. ...
, and of
Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
in 1811 with the British Invasion of Java. Thus, in 1813, the French Navy lacked the advance bases it needed to support the
commerce raiding Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
frigate squadron that it had operated in the previous decade. It was therefore decided to send a force to the western coast of Africa to disrupt British shipping closer to the
metropole A metropole (from the Greek ''metropolis'' for "mother city") is the homeland, central territory or the state exercising power over a colonial empire. From the 19th century, the English term ''metropole'' was mainly used in the scope of ...
, while still being far enough away to be beyond the reach of the powerful British naval divisions that blockaded 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 ...
and the
Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
. To this end, a frigate division was given to Captain
Pierre Bouvet Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
, a skilled frigate commander,James
p. 189
credits Bouvet as being "one best officers in the French navy".
veteran of the Mauritius campaign and leader of the French forces during the second half of the
Battle of Grand Port The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Isle de France (now Mau ...
. The squadron comprised the 40-gun frigate , under Bouvet himself, and , under Commander Louis-François Ollivier.Quintin, p. 86. Another two-frigate squadron, made up of ''
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
'' and , was to perform the same mission with a two-week interval. On 25 November 1812, Bouvet's division departed from Nantes, snuck through the British blockade, and established a station to the north-east of the
Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
, near the group of five rocks called "Vigie des Cinq Grosses-Têtes"Troude, p. 171. (44°17'N, 21°45'W). The frigates then continued to cruise off
Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
and
Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
. During January, due to continual galesLecomte, p. 291. and preliminary symptoms of a fever epidemic, Bouvet decided to sail south with two prizes, the British cutter ''Hawk'',James
p. 185
/ref> and the other the Portuguese slave ship ''Serra'', to anchor at the
Îles de Los Îles de Los are an island group lying off Conakry in Guinea, on the west coast of Africa. Their name is derived from the Portuguese: ''Ilhas dos Ídolos'', "Islands of the Idols". They are located about off the headland limiting the southern ...
, off
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...
. On 27 January, the frigates and their prizes came in view of the islands when the 16-gun , under Lieutenant William Pascoe, appeared. Mistaking the French frigates for British cruisers, ''Daring'' launched a boat towards ''Rubis'', which altered her course to intercept; as the frigate approached, the boat realised her error and attempted to flee, to no avail. Questioning his prisoners, Ollivier learnt the identity of his opponent, and gave chase. Hopelessly outmanned and outgunned, Pascoe threw his brig on the coast, on the north-western point of Tamara, and scuttled her by fire.Lecomte, p. 292. ''Daring''s magazines detonated at 5 in the evening, and the French frigates dropped anchor one hour later. Ashore, the French collected fruit, resupplied their fresh water, and gathered intelligence on the British deployment: the station of Sierra Leone comprised two frigates and several corvettes, but only was anchored in the bay at the time. After six days of repairs and resupply, ''Aréthuse'' and ''Rubis'' were ready for a six-month cruise; to unburden himself of his prisoners and prizes, Bouvet returned ''Serra'' to the Portuguese, and on 29 January, the British were Parole, released on parole and sent to Sierra Leone on ''Hawk''. Bouvet departed on 4 February.Troude (p. 171) say on the 1st; Lecomte (p. 293) says the 4th; Roche (p. 390) dates the destruction of ''Rubis'' to the 5th, entailing that her departure was on the 4th; The ''Fonds Marine'' (p. 477) concurs with Roche. Meanwhile, on 29 January, Lieutenant Pascoe had arrived at
Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and p ...
, with some of his men, and informed ''Amelia'' of the presence of what he believed to be three French frigates at Tamara. ''Hawk'' arrived the same evening with the prisoners on parole, confirming Pascoe's account; she was then equipped with a boat from ''Amelia'' and sent for a reconnaissance of the French squadron. Having volunteered, Pascoe returned with—this time—an accurate description of the French division, including the names of the frigates and their prize. On 3 February, at 10:30, ''Amelia'' departed her anchorage and took the direction of the Îles de Los to intercept the French squadron. At the Îles de Los, ''Aréthuse'' had, upon departure, maneuvered to catch the wind and struck the bottom, breaking her rudder and forcing the squadron to drop anchor on the spot. That very night, a violent storm broke out, and both frigates broke their cables. ''Aréthuse'' managed to avoid running aground using a makeshift rudder, and in the morning found herself twelve miles to the north-west of Tamara; Bouvet dropped anchor as soon as he found the bottom to repair his rudder. Meanwhile, ''Rubis'' had been cast aground on the shore of Tamara.Troude, p. 172. At ten, she fired distress shots and signals; ''Aréthuse'' launched her
longboat A longboat is a type of ship's boat that was in use from ''circa'' 1500 or before. Though the Royal Navy replaced longboats with launches from 1780, examples can be found in merchant ships after that date. The longboat was usually the largest boa ...
to assist, but could not maneuver herself without her rudder; the launch carried two additional pumps to ''Rubis'', but returned with the news that she was unsalvageable and that her crew was transferring on ''Serra''.James
p. 184
/ref> The following night, the hull of the stranded ''Rubis'' broke under the stress of the waves.Lecomte, p. 295. Commander Ollivier scuttled her by fire and embarked his crew on ''Serra''. On 5 January, around 20:00, ''Amelia'' sighted a strange sail making night signals which, the next morning, turned out to be ''Princess-Charlotte'', a government schooner from Sierra Leone. ''Amelia'' got sight of the French squadron half an hour later, and dispatched ''Princess-Charlotte'' to Sierra Leone to instruct any incoming British warship to come to her aid at once. She then observed what was deemed to be a prize being unloaded into one of the frigates, but was in fact ''Rubis'' transferring her crew to ''Serra'', and the second frigate in the distance.


Battle

In the morning of 6 February, while ''Aréthuse'' was completing her repairs, appeared under the wind. Bouvet set sails to meet her and in the evening, the frigates sailed on parallel courses; As Irby was not aware of the demise of ''Rubis'', he was attempting to lure ''Aréthuse'' away from her to prevent the two French frigates from supporting each other.James

/ref> ''Aréthuse'' having a slight advantage, and hoping to overhaul his opponent during the night, Bouvet hoisted the French colours and fired a carronade; ''Amelia'' answered by hoisting the Union Jack and firing a shot. At dawn, a fog obscured the frigates from each other, and Bouvet could not engage. The next morning, ''Aréthuse'' found herself alone on the sea, and Bouvet followed the course that he assumed ''Amelia'' had taken; around eleven, she appeared on the horizon and ''Aréthuse'' put on all sails to give chase. The frigates raced all day and at 19:30, Irby decided that he was far enough to avoid interference from ''Rubis'', and ''Amelia'' turned to confront her opponent. ''Aréthuse'' was pierced for 44 guns, but actually mounted only 42: as her two foremost guns, obstructed by bollards, could not be maneuvered properly, Bouvet had ordered them stored in the hold.Troude, p. 173. This left ''Aréthuse'' with twenty-six 18-pounder long guns, two 8-pounder chase guns, and fourteen 24-pounder
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. ''Amelia'' mounted twenty-six 18-pounders and twenty 32-pounder carronades. Her crew was reinforced by that of ''Daring''. The frigates closed in to pistol range without opening fire.Lecomte, p. 297. As they passed each other, ''Aréthuse'' came about and fired her broadside at ''Amelia'' that cut the braces of her
topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. Square rig On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...
; ''Amelia'' answered in kind, and then veered and abruptly decreased her speed, her davit touching ''Aréthuse'' at starboard. ''Aréthuse'' fired another broadside at point-blank range, and for the following hour and a half, the two frigates remained entangled, exchanging volleys, gunners from both sides snatching the ramrods of their opponents and duelling with sabres from one gunport and the other, but neither side attempting to board the other. After 90 minutes of cannonade and gunfire, Captain Irby and his two lieutenants, John James Bates and John Pope,James
p. 187
/ref> were wounded. The third lieutenant, George Wells, was killed soon after taking command, and the master of ''Amelia'', Anthony De Mayne, replaced him. Then, Bouvet attempted a boarding to decide the issue, but with her clewlines cut by shots, ''Aréthuse'' could not maneuver. At 21:00, the frigates separated.Lecomte, p. 298. The cannonade continued until eleven, until the frigates lost contact. Soon, a dense fog hid the frigates one from another, and it was not until the next morning that ''Amelia'' was spotted again. According to Bouvet's report, ''Aréthuse'' attempted to give chase, but to no avail.


Aftermath

Each captain accused the other of having fled. Irby stated that ''Aréthuse'' "bore up, having the advantage of being able to do so, leaving us in an ungovernable state"; while Bouvet wrote "At eleven o'clock, firing ceased on both sides; we were no longer in range; and the enemy, putting on all sail, surrendered the battlefield to us"."''A onze heures, le feu cessa de part et d'autre; nous n'étions plus à bonne portée, et l'ennemi se couvrit de voiles, nous abandonnant le champ de bataille.''" Original quoted in James, p. 187, with a few errors. Translation from the original. Bouvet's complete report is available a
lebardeschoufs.com
/ref> Another view is that the ships, their riggings both damaged, simply drifted away from each other under the effect of the cannonade. ''Aréthuse'' had 20 killed and 98 wounded.Quintin (p. 86) gives a figure of 88 wounded; James (p. 188) gives a somehow different figure of 31 killed and 74 wounded. ''Amelia'' suffered 51 killed and 90 wounded.James

/ref> Bouvet sailed to Tamara, where he rejoined ''Serra'' and the crew of ''Rubis'' on the 10th.James

/ref> ''Serra'' was taken in tow for a few days before Bouvet scuttled her by fire, off Madeira, as she retarded ''Aréthuse''. ''Aréthuse'' returned to Saint-Malo with no further encounter, where she arrived on 19 April 1813. During their mission, ''Rubis'' and ''Aréthuse'' had captured ten prizes.James

gives a figure of fifteen prizes.
Irby sailed to England, where he had been bound before the battle to repatriate sick sailors. He arrived at Spithead on 22 March, carrying large quantities of gold. Navy Minister Decrès gave a mixed review of the events. On one hand, he praised Bouvet's bravery and conduct during the battle itself; in his report of the events, on 26 April 1813, he wrote:
Louis-Philippe Crépin Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772, Paris – 26 November 1851, Paris) was a French marine painter. Together with Théodore Gudin, he was appointed as one of France's first two Peintres de la Marine in 1830.Ministère de l'instruction publique et des ...
did paint a depiction of the battle, which is in the collections of the Musée de Versailles. On the other hand, Decrès sharply criticised Bouvet for the wreck of ''Rubis'' and near-loss of ''Aréthuse'' in the storm of 5 February: Probably because of these mixed reviews, Bouvet was awarded the rank of officer in the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
, on 2 July, but was neither promoted to rear-admiral, nor made a
Baron of the Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles of nobility to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both before and since, Napoleon found that th ...
, as had been requested in his favour.Quintin, p. 87.


Notes and references


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * James, William (1837) ''The Naval History of Great Britain, 1793–1820'', Volume VI, R. Bentley, London. * * * * * {{Cite book, first=Onésime-Joachim, last=Troude, author-link=Onésime-Joachim Troude, year=1867, publisher=Challamel ainé, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfFrDVTkcpsC, title=Batailles navales de la France, language=fr, volume=4 * Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations ; divisions et stations navales ; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome deuxième : BB4 1 à 482 (1790–1826

1813 in France Conflicts in 1813 Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars Wars involving Sierra Leone February 1813 events Naval battles involving France Naval battles involving the United Kingdom