The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the
American Revolutionary War
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 ...
on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore ...
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
. The British convoy and its escorting squadron had anchored at Porto Praya (now Praia) in the Portuguese
to take on water, when the French squadron arrived and attacked them at anchor.
Due to the unexpected nature of the encounter, neither fleet was prepared to do battle, and in the inconclusive battle the French fleet sustained more damage than the British, though no ships were lost. Johnstone tried to pursue the French, but was forced to call it off in order to repair the damage his ships had taken.
The French gained a strategic victory, because Suffren beat Johnstone to the Cape and reinforced the Dutch garrison before continuing on his journey to the Île de France (now
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 ...
).
Background
France had entered the
American Revolutionary War
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 ...
in 1778, and Britain declared war on the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
in late 1780, when the Dutch refused to stop trading with the French and the Americans. Johnstone was ordered to lead an expedition to capture the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope.
On 13 March 1781 Johnstone sailed from
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
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 ...
, and a large number of troop convoy ships. In early April the fleet anchored in the neutral harbour of Porto Praya in the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
-controlled Cape Verde Islands to take on water and supplies.
Suffren had been dispatched on a mission to provide military assistance to French and Dutch colonies in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, leading a fleet of five ships of the line, seven transports, and a corvette to escort the transports. On 22 March he had sailed in the company of a fleet destined for North America under Admiral de Grasse, with word of Johnstone's mission and an objective to reach the Cape first.
One of Suffren's ships, '' Artésien'', had originally been destined for America, and was in need of water, so the French fleet paused when it approached
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
on 16 April, and Suffren ordered the ''Artésien'' to the harbour.
Battle
When the ''Artésien'' reached the mouth of the harbour, she spotted the British fleet at anchor, and signalled Suffren that the enemy was in sight. Suffren, assuming (correctly) that the fleet had men ashore and would be in some disarray, immediately gave orders to attack, leading the way with his flagship, the '' Héros''. Johnstone, who was in the process of ordering ship manoeuvres to separate ships that had drifted too close to one another when the French squadron was spotted, had to scramble to prepare the fleet for battle.
Suffren's orders were for his line to anchor before the British fleet and open fire. This he did with ''Héros'', taking on and , the two largest British ships. '' Annibal'' soon came to his aid, and eventually drew most of the fire. ''Artésien'', whose captain was killed early in the engagement, captured the East Indiaman in the confusion, and then a breeze blew her away from the action. The '' Vengeur'' passed along the anchored British fleet exchanging broadsides but never anchored herself and passed out of the action, while the ''
Sphinx
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon.
In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
'' also failed to anchor, and only contributed minimally to the action.
Suffren, with the advantage of surprise, maintained the action with the two anchored ships for ninety minutes until damage (''Annibal'' lost two of three masts) led him to signal a retreat while maintaining fire. ''Annibal'' lost her third mast on her way out of the harbour, and was slow to follow ''Héros''.
The French captured the
East Indiamen
East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...
''Hinchinbrook'' and ''Fortitude'', and the victualer ''Edward''. The British recaptured ''Fortitude'' the next day.
Aftermath
Suffren gathered his fleet together outside the harbour to assess damage and make repairs. ''Terror'' and ''Infernal'' had got out to sea and the French fired on them. Despite being set on fire, ''Terror'' escaped and her crew extinguished the flames. The French captured ''Infernal'', and took out Captain Henry Darby and some sailors and soldiers.
Johnstone got his squadron ready and came out of the harbour in pursuit about three hours later. Suffren adopted an aggressive line, and Johnstone, some of whose ships — especially — had suffered significant damage, chose not to renew the battle, and returned to the harbour to effect repairs. However, before he returned, he succeeded in recovering ''Infernal''.Hepper (1994), p.62. Her remaining crew had recaptured her while the prize crew were off their guard.Theal (1897), p.181. Alternatively, her prize crew abandoned her at the approach of the British squadron. Their prize crews also abandoned and ''Edward'', and the British recovered the vessels a few days later.
Suffren's squadron reached the Cape of Good Hope on 21 June, with the troop convoys arriving nine days later. After spending a month there for repair and refit, he left 500 men for the defence of the Dutch colony and proceeded on to Ile de France. Johnstone, however, still headed for the Cape and arrived in July and at
Saldanha Bay
Saldanha Bay ( af, Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Mu ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
* Demerliac, Alain (1996) ''La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792''. (Nice: Éditions OMEGA).
*
*
* Theal, George McCall (1897) ''History of South Africa under the administration of the Dutch East India Company, 1652 to 1795''. (S. Sonnenschein & co., Ptd.).
Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas
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