Armand de Saint-Félix (20 September 1737 – 13 August 1819) was a French Navy officer and admiral.

Biography

Saint-Félix joined the Navy in 1755. he served on the 16-gun ''Calypso'', where he took part in the

Battle of Quiberon Bay The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' in French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast ...

on 20 November 1759. In 1762, he was promoted to Ensign. In 1771, he was appointed to command the corvette ''Heure de Berger'' and appointed to conduct an exploration voyage to seek the

Phantom island A phantom island is a purported island which was included on maps for a period of time, but was later found not to exist. They usually originate from the reports of early sailors exploring new regions, and are commonly the result of navigati ...

of Juan de Lisboa. Promoted to Lieutenant in 1772, he brought

Maurice Benyovszky Count Maurice Benyovszky de Benyó et Urbanó ( hu, Benyovszky Máté Móric Mihály Ferenc Szerafin Ágost; pl, Maurycy Beniowski; sk, Móric Beňovský; 20 September 1746 – 24 May 1786) was a renowned military officer, adventurer, and writ ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

for an attempt at founding a trading post.

War of American Independence

During the

War of American Independence 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 ...

, Saint-Félix served on ''Solitaire'' and took part in the Battle of Ushant. He then transferred onto ''Protée'', and was taken prisoner when she was captured in the

action of 24 February 1780 The action of 24 February 1780 was a minor naval battle that took place off the island of Madeira during the American Revolutionary War.Winfield pp 74 A French convoy was intercepted and pursued by a British Royal Navy squadron ending with the Fre ...

. Promoted to Captain in 1781, he was appointed to the frigate ''Fine'' and sailed to Isle de France (

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

). He took command of the 64-gun ''Brillant'' in the squadron of Read-Admiral Suffren, and took part in the battles of

Sadras Sadras is a fortress town located on India's Coromandel Coast in Chengalpattu district, 70 km south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. ''Sadras'' is the anglicised form of the ancient town of ''Saduranga pattinam''. History and Etymology An i ...

, Providien and

Negapatam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

. On 7 July 1782, following the Battle of Negapatam, Suffren appointed Saint-Félix to ''Artésien'' in replacement of Bidé de Maurville. He commanded her at the

Battle of Trincomalee A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. Saint-Félix requested to be relieved and left the squadron after the

, embarking on ''Pulvérisateur'' on 3 September 1782, bound for Isle de France. He later returned to be promoted to the command of the

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 ...

''Fendant'' which he captained during the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783, where he was wounded. He returned to France after the Peace of Paris, commanding ''Flamand''. After the war, he was amongst the captains that Suffren recommended for promotion

Interwar

Returned to France, Saint-Félix commanded the training squadron (

escadre d'évolution An Escadre d'évolution (French, literally "Evolution squadron") is a squadron of warships of the French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one ...

) in 1785. In June 1786, the captained the 18-gun corvette ''Flèche'' for a cruise between Toulon and Cherbourg. In 1787 and 1788, he commanded the Eastern Mediterranean station. In 1790, he was given command of the

''Tourville''. In 1791, he was promoted to Rear-Admiral and until 1792, he commanded the Indian Ocean station, with his flag on ''Cybèle''.

French Revolutionary wars

In 1793, Saint-Félix was promoted to Vice-Admiral. The same year, he was arrested, and spent 16 months in prison. He returned to France in 1810 after squandering a considerable fortune that belonged to his wife.

Restauration

At the Bourbon restauration, Louis XVIII made Saint-Félix a Commander in the Order of Saint Louis.

Sources and references

Notes References Bibliography * * * * * External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Félix, Armand 1737 births 1819 deaths People from Isère French Navy admirals