Minor English and France maritime conflict
The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a minor naval battle fought on 23 February 1809 off the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne on the Biscay Coast of France between a French Navy squadron of three frigates and a larger British squadron of ships of the line. The French squadron had sailed from the port of Lorient on 23 February in an effort to link up with a fleet from Brest under Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, but missed the rendezvous and was pursued by a British blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford. The French commander, Commodore Pierre Roch Jurien, anchored his squadron under the batteries which protected the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne in the hope of dissuading an attack.
Ignoring the batteries, Stopford ordered his squadron to attack at 09:00 on 24 February, HMS "Defiance" leading the line. Shortly after the main batteries of Stopford's ships of the line came into the battle, the French ships were overwhelmed one by one and shortly after noon all three had been driven ashore with heavy casualties. British histories recount that all three were destroyed, although French histories report that they were salvaged but found to be damaged beyond repair. The fleet under Willaumez was trapped in the anchorage at Basque Roads on 26 February and defeated at the Battle of Basque Roads in April with heavy losses.
Background.
In 1809 the Royal Navy was dominant in the Atlantic, the French Atlantic fleet trapped by close blockade in the French Biscay ports by the British Channel Fleet. The largest French base was at Brest in Brittany, where the main body of the French fleet lay at anchor under the command of Contre-amiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, with smaller French detachments stationed at Lorient and Rochefort. The squadron at Lorient comprised three ships of the line and five frigates under Commodore Amable Troude, watched by its own blockade squadron of four ships of the line under Captain John Beresford.
In February the Brest fleet put to sea for an operation against the British forces in the Caribbean planning an attack against the French colonies in the Caribbean. In late 1808, the French learned that invasion was planned of Martinique and orders were sent to Willaumez to concentrate with the squadrons from Lorient and Rochefort and reinforce the island. Willaumez was only able to escape the blockade when winter storms forced the British fleet to retreat into the Atlantic, his ships passing southwards through the Raz de Sein at dawn on 22 February with eight ships of the line and two frigates. A single ship of the line, HMS "Revenge", had remained on station off Brest, and sailed in pursuit.
Chase.
Willaumez's fleet discovered Beresford's ships off Lorient at 16:30 in the afternoon and Willaumez ordered his second-in-command, Contre-amiral Antoine Louis de Gourdon, to drive Beresford away. Gourdoun brought four ships around to chase the British squadron of HMS "Theseus", HMS "Triumph" and HMS "Valiant", with the remainder of the French fleet following more distantly. Beresford turned away to the northwest, and his objective achieved, Gourdan rejoined Willaumez and the fleet sailed inshore, anchoring near the island of Groix, with the route to Lorient clear.
Early on 23 February Willaumez sailed again, taking his fleet southwards towards the Pertuis d'Antioche near Rochefort after sending the schooner "Magpye" into Lorient with orders for Troude to follow him to the rendezvous. Troude found that the tide was too low to sail at once, and so sent a squadron of three frigates ahead, under the command of Commodore Pierre Roch Jurien. These frigates were the 40-gun "Italienne", "Calypso" and "Cybèle", which sailed together on the evening of 23 February southwards in the direction of Belle Île. Their departure had been observed by Beresford's force, which remained off Lorient to watch Troude but sent the 38-gun frigate HMS "Amelia" under Captain Frederick Paul Irby and 18-gun brig-sloop HMS "Doterel" under Commander Anthony Abdy in pursuit.
At dawn on 24 February, near the Île de Ré, "Amelia" closed on "Cybèle", forcing the other French frigates to fall back in support and open fire, driving the pursuers back. As Irby dropped off, sails appeared to the south. This was a British squadron from the Rochefort blockade commanded by Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford with the ships of the line HMS "Caesar", HMS "Defiance" and HMS "Donegal". Stopford had been stationed off the Chassiron lighthouse when Willaumez had passed, and he had sent the frigate HMS "Naiad" under Captain Thomas Dundas north to notify the rest of the British Channel Fleet that was in pursuit. "Naiad" sighted Jurien's squadron and signaled Stopford, who set a course to cut Jurien off from Willaumez, leaving the frigates HMS "Amethyst" and HMS "Emerald" to watch the French fleet.
Action.
Jurien recognised immediately that his force was severely outnumbered and steered for the coast in search of a safe anchorage. The best available was the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne, which had a small harbour protected by gun batteries. At 09:10 "Amelia" was in range to fire on "Cybèle"'s stern before the British frigate dropped back to join Stopford's rapidly advancing force. The French then anchored under the batteries of the town with "springs" on their anchor cables, a system of attaching the bow anchor that increased stability and allowed the ships to swing their broadsides to face an enemy while stationary.
Stopford was not intimidated and at 10:30 his squadron bore down on the French in a line of battle led by "Defiance" and followed by "Caesar", "Donegal" and "Amelia". At 11:00 "Defiance", with the lightest draught of the ships of the line, was able to close to within of the French squadron. The British ship opened fire and took fire in response from the frigates and batteries. At 11:20 "Caesar" and "Donegal" joined the attack, followed at 11:30 by "Amelia". The concentrated fire of the large British ships was far too heavy for the French and at 11:50 "Cybèle" and "Italienne" cut their anchor cables and drifted away from the British and onto the shore. Neither crew was able to continue in the fight as burning wadding had drifted from "Defiance" and set them on fire. At about this time "Caesar" withdrew to deeper water to avoid grounding and "Defiance" veered anchor cable to turn its fire onto "Calypso".
Within minutes "Calypso" had also veered its cable so that "Italienne", now beached, could resume fire on the British squadron, but the frigate overcompensated and drifted stern-first onto the shore. The British ships continued their fire until the rapidly falling tide forced them to retire one by one, with "Defiance" being the last to retire at 12:15. The squadron then returned for one more pass, the final shots fired by "Donegal", before Stopford ordered them to withdraw.
Aftermath.
The British ships at Les Sables-d'Olonne were not seriously damaged, with minor damage to the rigging of "Donegal" and "Caesar" and damage to the rigging and masts of "Defiance". Three British sailors were killed and 31 wounded. French losses were more severe, with 24 killed and 51 wounded. Although Stopford's dispatch on the action makes clear that attempts to repair the French ships began almost immediately, it is widely reported in British accounts that three ships were destroyed. The French were in fact able to salvage two of the frigates. "Cybèle" was wrecked beyond recovery, her hull so much holed by rocks that she was sinking. "Calypso" and "Italienne" were brought into port, but the battering they had taken was too severe for repairs to be effective and "Calypso" was broken up, while "Italienne" was sold to private merchant concerns as unfit for further military service. Cocault was court-martialed for the loss of "Cybèle" and honourably acquitted on 2 June 1809, the court finding his conduct "worthy of the highest praise".
Stopford had hoped that his attack on Jurien's squadron might draw Willaumez's fleet out of the anchorage in support, where they might be surprised and defeated by the British fleet. Willaumez however made no movement to prevent the destruction of the frigate squadron. Stopford returned to watch the French fleet from the anchorage at Basque Roads, where he was shortly after joined by the British fleet under Admiral Lord Gambier, and was present although not directly engaged in the Battle of Basque Roads in April at which the French fleet was defeated, losing five ships. Willaumez had been replaced in March by Zacharie Allemand, whose defensive positions were unable to prevent a major attack by fireships on 11 April followed by a bombardment by conventional warships. In the aftermath of the battle Gambier was accused of failing to effectively support the attack and faced a court-martial in July, although he was acquitted and returned to command.
References.
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