Battle Of Maio

The Battle of Jobourg was a minor naval engagement between British and French frigate squadrons during the last weeks of the War of the Sixth Coalition in the 22nd and penultimate year of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In October 1813 the French Navy, unable to challenge the Royal Navy's dominance at sea, sent two small squadrons of frigates to harass British trade in the Atlantic Ocean. One was brought to battle in January 1814 and defeated near the Canary Islands but the second, from Nantes and consisting of the frigates ''Etoile'' and ''Sultane'', fought an inconclusive engagement against British frigate HMS ''Severn'' on 4 January in the mid-Atlantic and a furious battle against HMS ''Astrea'' and HMS ''Creole'' on 23 January near Maio in the Cape Verde Islands.

Attempting to return to Saint Malo in March, with the Allied armies at the gates of Paris and the war coming to a close, the French squadron was intercepted near the ÃŽle de Batz by a much stronger British squadron including the ship of the line HMS ''Hannibal'', frigate HMS ''Hebrus'' and brig HMS ''Sparrow''. ''Sultane'', badly damaged in the engagement with ''Creole'', was soon chased down by ''Hannibal'' and surrendered without a fight but ''Etoile'', faced with only the ''Hebrus'', turned away in an attempt to escape. Early in the morning of 27 March, ''Hebrus'' succeeded in reaching its quarry off Jobourg in Normandy and the frigates fought a fierce engagement close inshore. After more than two hours, ''Etoiles colours were struck and she surrendered. Casualties were heavy on both ships, but both prizes were successfully returned to Britain and commissioned into the Royal Navy. This was the final naval engagement of the War of the Sixth Coalition, which came to an end with Emperor Napoleon's abdication on 11 April.

Background

By the end of October 1813 the War of the Sixth Coalition was in its final stages; Emperor Napoleon had been defeated at the Battle of Leipzig by the Allied European armies and was retreating to the borders of France, while the British army under the Lord Wellington had crossed the Pyrenees and was advancing on Toulouse. The French Navy had never recovered from defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and had made no serious effort to put to sea since the abortive attempt which ended in defeat at the Battle of Basque Roads in 1809.Gardiner, p. 56 British control of the Atlantic Ocean trade routes was at this stage only contested by the small United States Navy and the handful of French raiders capable of evading the Royal Navy's constant close blockade of French ports, which had operated effectively and almost continuously since the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793.Gardiner, p. 182

In late October, small raiding squadrons, each consisting of two newly built frigates with picked crews and commanders departed France with instructions to attack British merchant shipping in the Atlantic.Woodman, p. 328 The first squadron was dispatched from Cherbourg and consisted of the 40-gun ships ''Iphigénie'' and ''Alcmène''. The second sailed from Nantes and comprised the ''Etoile'' under Captain Pierre-Henri Philibert and ''Sultane'' under Captain Georges Du-Petit-Thouars. While ''Iphigénie'' and ''Alcmène'' targeted British trade with West Africa, ''Etoile'' and ''Sultane'' were directed to the centre Atlantic. ''Iphigénie'' and ''Alcmène'' captured several valuable British merchant ships before being intercepted and defeated on 16 January 1814 near the Canary Islands.Clowes, p. 543

On 18 January 1814 ''Etoile'' and ''Sultane'' encountered a British merchant convoy at in the Central North Atlantic. Sighting distant sails at 04:00, the French captains soon confirmed that the convoy, sailing northwest towards its destination of Bermuda, was defended by only one British warship, the 40-gun frigate HMS ''Severn'' under Captain James Nourse. At 07:30, Nourse approached the unidentified ships, determining at 08:40 that they were enemy vessels and giving orders for the convoy to scatter. The French squadron pursued ''Severn'', Nourse opening long-range fire with his stern mounted guns at ''Etoile'' at 10:30.Clowes, p. 544 The French ship held off returning fire with its bow guns until 16:05 when the range had narrowed considerably, ''Severns flight distracting the French sufficiently to allow the convoy to escape. ''Severn'' proved to be a fast ship, Nourse successfully holding off pursuit through an exchange of fire at a distance of more than . At 17:30 French fire stopped as the range lengthened once more, and ''Severn'' began to pull away, Philibert finally calling off pursuit at 08:00 on 19 January.James, p. 261

Battle of Maio

The French squadron then sailed southwest, arriving at Maio in the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands on 22 January. The squadron anchored at Porto Inglês, and was discovered there at 09:55 the following morning by a British frigate squadron of the 36-gun ships HMS ''Astrea'' under Captain George Charles Mackenzie and HMS ''Creole'' under Captain John Eveleigh. The British ships were ''en route'' to Porto Inglês from Fuerteventura and first spied the French ships, with two small prizes, at anchor from across a promontory, assuming them to be Spanish or Portuguese ships. When the French failed to respond to the coded signals however the British captains realised that the strangers must be enemy vessels and resolved to attack them where they were anchored.

At 12:00 the French ships sailed for the open sea southeast along the coast of Maio, pursued by the British. ''Astrea'' suffered in the high winds, losing several topsails which impeded her speed. With ''Creole'' in the lead, the British ships succeeded in cutting ahead of the French by 12:45, Eveleigh firing his bow guns ahead of the French and exchanging broadsides with ''Sultane'' at 13:00.James, p. 262 As ''Creole'' and ''Sultane'' engaged one another, Mackenzie took his repaired ship through the gap between them, exchanging two broadsides at close range with ''Sultane'' and advancing on ''Etoile'' which had pulled ahead of the combat. ''Astraeas intervention was timely, allowing Eveleigh to extinguish a small fire which had broken out in his rigging before ''Creole'' rejoined the combat at 14:30. Another fire broke out almost immediately, and although it was extinguished ''Astraea'' was badly damaged by fire from ''Sultane''. Deciding that his ship could no longer effectively compete against the French warship, Mackenzie withdrew from combat, retreating towards the island of Santiago.

''Astrea'' reached ''Etoile'' at 14:30, exchanging broadsides before raking the starboard bow of Philibert's ship. In the course of the manoeuvre, ''Astrea'''s helmsman lost control of the ship, and Philibert seized the opportunity to steer ''Etoile'' across the stern of ''Astrea''. Pouring raking fire into the British ship from point blank range, Philibert inflicted severe damage to ''Astreas quarterdeck, tearing away fittings and detonating a loaded carronade. Eveleigh desperately pulled his ship back alongside ''Etoile'', but in doing so was struck in the chest and killed by pistol fire from the deck of ''Etoile''. Lieutenant John Bulford assumed command, continuing to fight Philibert at close range. By 15:05 however it was clear that there was no prospect of victory: ''Creole'' could be seen retreating from the battle while ''Sultane'' was rapidly approaching the combat, threatening to overwhelm the stricken frigate even as a fire broke out on the main topsail. The fire was soon extinguished, and Bulford contemplated an attempt to board ''Etoile'' but was thwarted by rough seas. At 15:30 ''Sultane'' raked ''Astrea'' before pulling away, Du Petit-Thouars considering that Philibert needed no assistance against the damaged British frigate.James, p. 263

At 16:15 the mizenmast of ''Astrea'', on fire once more, crashed over the side, leaving Bulford's ship unmaneuverable. Apparently content with reducing the British ship to a crippled state, Philibert withdrew ''Etoile'' to the southwest, joining ''Sultane'', which was struggling with a collapsed main topmast. Thus reprieved, Bulford followed ''Creole'' towards Santiago, both British ships arriving soon afterwards in the port of Praia. British losses were heavy, ''Creole'' losing ten killed and 26 wounded while ''Astrea'' lost nine killed, including Captain Eveleigh, and 37 wounded. Both ships were badly damaged and ''Astrea'' was subsequently considered to have been lucky not to have been captured: William James wrote that ''Astrea'' was "in a state not less of surprise than of joy at her extraordinary escape".

Battle of Jobourg

''Etoile'' and ''Sultane'', although the ostensible victors in the engagement, were both badly damaged themselves, with all masts suffering severely from the British bombardment and combined casualties of between 20–40 killed and 30–60 wounded.James, p. 264 The damage to the masts was serious, as the frigates were thousands of miles from a friendly port and unable to effect any but the most basic repairs. ''Sultane'' in particular needed substantial temporary repairs and was forced to erect jury masts as the damage was too severe for regular service. Unable to continue their cruise, the frigates turned north towards Europe. By 26 March the squadron was sailing eastwards in the English Channel, approximately north of the Île de Batz in Brittany ''en route'' to the Normandy port of Saint Malo. At 09:00 two vessels were sighted close by, their approach masked by heavy fog. These were the British 36-gun frigate HMS ''Hebrus'' under Captain Edmund Palmer and the 16-gun brig-sloop HMS ''Sparrow'' under Commander Francis Erskine Loch, participating in the blockade of the French Channel ports.James, p. 265

''Sparrow'' had been sighted so close to the French ships that it came under immediate fire, which tore up the rigging, killed a petty officer and wounded another sailor. ''Sparrow'' closed with ''Hebrus'' for support, Palmer firing long-distance broadsides at the French while signalling for support from the nearby 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Hannibal'' under Captain Sir Michael Seymour.Clowes, p. 545 As the fog cleared, ''Hannibal'' could be clearly seen advancing under all sail from the northwest. As a shift in the wind to the northwest at 11:00 offered the French an opportunity of escape, the frigates separated, the damaged ''Sultane'' following the wind and ''Etoile'' turning to the southeast. Recognising that only ''Hebrus'' was in a position to catch ''Etoile'', Seymour ordered Palmer to pursue while ''Hannibal'' and ''Sparrow'' advanced on ''Sultane''. Du Petit-Thouars' ship was in no position to evade or resist the much larger British warship and was within range of ''Hannibal'' by 15:30, Seymour firing two warning shots over ''Sultane''. Recognising his inevitable defeat, Du Petit-Thouars fired a broadside into the sea away from ''Hannibal'' and struck his flag in a gesture of surrender at 16:15, Seymour taking possession of the French ship.

While his companion was overrun by ''Hannibal'', Philibert was making strenuous efforts to escape from ''Hebrus''. By 14:00 the ''Sultane'' and ''Hannibal'' were out of sight, ''Sparrow'' disappearing over the horizon three hours later with ''Etoile'' ahead of Palmer's pursuit. Philibert turned northeast in a further effort to get away, but ''Hebrus'' was still slowly gaining on ''Etoile'' was night fell. As the ships passed through Alderney Race, Palmer gained considerable water on Philibert, driving the French ship close inshore near the village of Jobourg at 01:35 on 27 March.Gardiner, p. 183 Faced with the risk of grounding in the dark, Philibert turned and opened fire on ''Hebrus'' at 01:45, the frigates exchanging fire as ''Etoile'' slowly wore around Jobourg Point. Palmer attempted to rake ''Etoile'', passing so close astern that their rigging almost entangled, but Philibert responded by crossing the bows of ''Hebrus'', inflicting severe damage to the British ship's rigging at 02:20. Maneuvering away from land, Palmer was assisted by a light breeze at 03:00, passing repeatedly across ''Etoiles bow and raking the ship each time, causing serious damage so that by 03:45 Philibert's mizenmast had collapsed over the side. Fifteen minutes later ''Etoile'' finally ceased fire, with Philibert hailing to announce his surrender.

Aftermath

Palmer's first task was to pull both ships away from the immediate shoreline; in addition to the risk of grounding, a French gun battery had opened fire at random in the dark, shot striking both British and French ships. By 07:00 both ''Hebrus'' and ''Etoile'' had been successfully extracted around Jobourg point, coming to anchor near the coastal village of Vauville.James, p. 266 ''Hebrus'' had considerable damage to her rigging and 13 dead and 25 wounded from a crew of 284. ''Etoiles main damage was in the hull, with losses of 40 killed and 73 wounded from a crew of 327. The damage to ''Etoile'' so severe that Palmer immediately ordered the ship to make for Plymouth, arriving on 29 March. ''Sultane'' was in a better state, reaching Portsmouth sometime earlier. Both frigates were newly built and in good condition, both being commissioned into the Royal Navy, ''Etoile'' as HMS ''Topaze'' and ''Sultane'' under her own name.James, p. 267 In his report on the action, Seymour wrote of Palmer that " I am quite at a loss how to express, in adequate terms, my admiration of Captain Palmer's skill and decision on so interesting an occasion, and his new ship's company, his officers and his own able and intrepid conduct." More than three decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.

The battle was the last significant naval action of the War of the Sixth Coalition, the Allied armies entering Paris on 30 March and Napoleon, isolated and defeated, abdicating on 6 April.Chandler, p. 153 Combat in the Atlantic would continue with the War of 1812, and there was one final naval engagement of the long Napoleonic Wars during the Hundred Days in 1815, when the ship of the line HMS ''Rivoli'' intercepted and defeated the Napoleonic frigate ''Melpomène'' on 30 April.James, p. 353 ''Hebruss battle with ''Etoile'' was however the final encounter of dozens between individual frigates in the almost continuous 23-years of warfare between Britain and France.United Service Journal, 1834, ''Captain Edmund Palmer, CB''

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jobourg, Battle of
Naval battles involving France
Naval battles involving the United Kingdom
Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars
Conflicts in 1814
March 1814 events