Action of 25 September 1806

The action of 25 September 1806 was a naval battle fought during the Napoleonic Wars off the French Biscay port of Rochefort. A French squadron comprising five frigates and two corvettes, sailing to the French West Indies with supplies and reinforcements, was intercepted by a British squadron of six ships of the line that was keeping a close blockade of the port as part of the Atlantic campaign of 1806. The British ships, under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, spotted the French convoy early in the morning of 25 September, just a few hours after the French had left port, and immediately gave chase. Although the French ships tried to escape, they were heavily laden with troops and stores, and the strong winds favoured the larger ships of the line, which caught the French convoy after a five-hour pursuit, although they had become separated from one another during the chase.

At 05:00 the leading British ship, , was within range and opened fire on the French squadron, which divided. One frigate went north and was intercepted by , while another, accompanied by the two corvettes, turned south and managed to outrun . The main body of the French force remained together and met the attack of Monarch and the British flagship with their broadsides. Although outnumbered and outclassed by the British squadron the French ships fought hard, inflicting damage on the leading British ships and severely wounding Commodore Hood. Eventually the strength of the British squadron told, and despite a fierce resistance the French ships surrendered one by one, the British capturing four of the seven vessels in the squadron.

Background

The principal naval campaign of 1806 was fought in the Atlantic Ocean, following a raid by two large French battle squadrons on British trade routes, focused particularly on the Caribbean. The security of the French Caribbean was under severe threat during the wars, as the Royal Navy dominated the region and restricted French movements both between the islands and between the West Indies and France itself. This dominance was enforced by rigorous blockade, in which British ships attempted to ensure that no French military or commercial vessel was able to enter or leave French harbours both in Europe and in the French colonies. In the Caribbean, this strategy was designed to destroy the economies and morale of the French West Indian territories in preparation for attack by British expeditionary forces. To counter this strategy, the French government repeatedly sent convoys and individual warships to the French Caribbean islands with supplies of food, military equipment and reinforcements. These resupply efforts ranged from small individual corvettes to large battle squadrons and were under orders to avoid conflict wherever possible. Despite these orders, many were intercepted by British blockade forces, either in the Caribbean or off the French coast itself.

The largest French resupply effort of the Napoleonic Wars was a squadron under Counter-admiral Corentin Urbain de Leissègues, sent to Santo Domingo in December 1805 with troops and supplies. In conjunction with a second squadron under Vice-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, this force was then ordered to raid British trade routes and disrupt the movement of British merchant shipping across the Atlantic. Unaware of the dispersal of Willaumez's squadron, the British naval authorities sought to block its return to Europe by stationing strong battle squadrons off the principal French Atlantic ports. One of their most important targets was the city of Rochefort, heavily fortified port in which a powerful French naval force was based, and a squadron of six Royal Navy ships of the line was assigned to watch it in case Willaumez attempted to return there. In August, command of the blockade squadron was awarded to Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, a highly experience naval commander. To carry the supplies and reinforcements, Soleil was provided with seven ships: Four large modern frigates rated at 40-guns but actually carrying 44–46, a smaller and older frigate of 36 guns and two small corvettes of 16 guns each. All of the ships were heavily laden, each carrying as many as 650 men, but it was hoped that their size and speed would allow them to defeat anything smaller than they were and to escape anything larger. Hood's immediate reaction was that the sails must belong to a squadron of French ships of the line, and ordered his ships to form a line of battle in anticipation. Even as the signal was raised however, lookouts on Monarch identified the strangers as frigates and Hood abandoned his previous orders and raised a new signal ordering a general chase, confident that his ships could destroy the convoy even without the power and defensive capability of a line of battle.

As soon as Soleil realised that he had been spotted he gave orders for his ships to sail to the southwest as fast as possible, hoping to outdistance the British squadron. However his convoy were all heavily laden and were therefore slower than they would normally be, while the heavy swell and strong winds favoured the large ships of the line. Recognising that he was facing an overwhelming British force, Soleil split his ships, sending Thétis and the corvettes Lynx and Sylphe southwards and Infatigable to the north. This had limited success in achieving the desired effect of dividing the pursuit, with Captain William Lukin taking out of the British line in pursuit of Infatigable while the slow was sent after the three south bound ships, but the main body of the Royal Navy squadron remained on course. Within minutes Monarch was heavily engaged with Armide and Minerve but Captain Lee found himself at a disadvantage: the heavy swell that had suited his ship during the chase also prevented him from opening his lower gunports in case of flooding. To the south, Windsor Castle had proven far too slow to catch the smaller French ships, which had easily outrun the second rate and escaped. All four of the captured frigates were large new vessels that were immediately purchased for service in the Royal Navy, Gloire and Armide retaining their names while Infatigable became HMS Immortalite and Minerve became HMS Alceste. Although Hood and his men were commended at the time, subsequent historical focus has been on the bravery of the inexperienced French crews in resisting an attack by an overwhelming force for so long. William James wrote in 1827 of the "gallant conduct on the part of the French ships" and William Laird Clowes, writing in 1900 stated that "The resistance offered by the French to a force so superior was in every way credible".

Within days of the action Hood had been promoted to rear-admiral and awarded a pension of £500 a year, but despite his wound he continued in service, fighting a notable action with Russian ships in the Baltic Sea in 1807 and later operating off the Spanish coast in the early Peninsular War. French efforts to resupply their West Indian colonies continued throughout the next three years, costing a heavy toll of men and ships lost to the British blockade. By 1808, the situation in the French Caribbean had become desperate and the French increased their supply convoys, losing five frigates and a ship of the line in failed reinforcement efforts during late 1808 and early 1809. The weakened colonies were unable to resist British attack, and co-ordinated invasions forced the surrender of first Martinique in January 1809 and Guadeloupe a year later, Cayenne and Santo Domingo also falling to British, Spanish and Portuguese forces.

Order of battle

{| class="wikitable" width=100%

|+Commodore Hood's squadron

|- valign="top"|- valign="top"

! width=15%; align=center rowspan=2 | Ship

! width=10%; align=center rowspan=2 | Rate

! width=5%; align=center rowspan=2 | Guns

! width=5%; align=center rowspan=2 | Navy

! width=25%; align=center rowspan=2 | Commander

! width=15%; align=center colspan=3 | Casualties

! width=25%; align=center rowspan=2 | Notes

|-valign="top"

! width=5%; align=center | Killed

! width=5%; align=center | Wounded

! width=5%; align=center | Total

|- valign="top"

| align=left |

| align=center | Third-rate

| align=center | 74

| align=center | 22px

| align=left |Captain Richard Lee

| align=right | 6

| align=right | 18

| align=right | 24

| align=left | Suffered severe damage to rigging and masts.

|- valign="top"

| align=left |

| align=center | Third-rate

| align=center | 74

| align=center | 22px

| align=left | Commodore Sir Samuel Hood

| align=right | 3

| align=right | 4

| align=right | 7

| align=left | Suffered severe damage to rigging and masts.

|- valign="top"

| align=left |

| align=center | Third-rate

| align=center | 74

| align=center | 22px

| align=left |Captain William Lukin

| align=right | 0

| align=left | Suffered minor damage to rigging and hull.

|- valign="top"

| align=left |

| align=center | Second-rate

| align=center | 98

| align=center | 22px

| align=left | Captain Charles Boyles

| align=right | 0

| align=left | Not engaged during the battle.

|- valign="top"

| align=left |

| align=center | Third-rate

| align=center | 74

| align=center | 22px

| align=left |Captain Richard King

| align=right | 0

| align=left | Not engaged during the battle.

|- valign="top"

| align=left |

| align=center | Third-rate

| align=center | 74

| align=center | 22px

| align=left |Captain Sir John Gore

| align=right | 0

| align=left | Not engaged during the battle.

|- valign="top"

| align=left |

| align=center | Brig

| align=center | 16

| align=center | 22px

| align=left |Commander John Ore Masefield

| align=right | 0

| align=left | Not engaged during the battle.

|- valign="top"

!colspan="11" bgcolor="white"|Casualties: 9 killed, 29 wounded, 38 total.

{| class="wikitable" width=100%

|+Commodore Soleil's squadron but all other sources give Thétis under Captain Jacques Pinsum.

| align=center | Frigate

| align=center | 36

| align=center | 22px

| align=left | Frigate Captain Jacques Pinsum

| align=center | None

| align=left | Not engaged during battle.

|- valign="top"

| align=left | Lynx

| align=center | Corvette

| align=center | 16

| align=center | 22px

| align=left | Lieutenant Fargenel

| align=center | None

| align=left | Not engaged during battle.

|- valign="top"

| align=left | Sylphe

| align=center | Corvette

| align=center | 16

| align=center | 22px

| align=left |

| align=center | None

| align=left | Not engaged during battle.

|-valign="top"

!colspan="7" bgcolor="white"|Total casualties: unknown, believed to be heavy.

Action of 25 September 1806

Background

Order of battle

Notes

References

Bibliography