The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was fought between 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear-Admiral of the Blue Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet under François Joseph Paul de Grasse.
Background
When Rear-Admiral of the Blue Sir Samuel Hood returned to the West Indies in late 1781 after the Battle of the Chesapeake, he was for a time in independent command owing to Admiral of the White Sir George Rodney's absence in England. The French admiral, François Joseph Paul de Grasse, attacked the British islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis with 7,000 troops and 50 warships, including the 110-gun Ville de Paris. He started by besieging the British fortress on Brimstone Hill on 11 January 1782. Hoping to salvage the situation, Hood made for Saint Kitts by departing Antigua on 22 January with 22 ships of the line, compared to de Grasse's 36.
Battle
The British fleet on 24 January consisted of 22 sail of the line, and was close off the southeast end of Nevis. They ran into and captured the French 16-gun cutter Espion, which carried a large amount of ammunition for the besieging French forces at Brimstone Hill.
At daybreak on 25 January, the French fleet was discovered having stood to the southward of Basseterre, consisting of a 110-gun ship, 28 two-decked ships, and two frigates. Hood stood towards the French fleet with the apparent intention of bringing on action, and effectively drew the French fleet off the land. As soon as Hood effected this maneuver, he was aided by a favorable change in wind and was able to guide his fleet within the anchorage of Basseterre, which the French admiral had just quit. Hood ordered his fleet in an L-formation and then ordered his fleet to lay anchor. De Grasse made three distinct attacks upon the British fleet on 26 January but was repulsed.
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! width=15%; align= center rowspan=2 | Ship
! width=10%; align= center rowspan=2 | Rate
! width=5%; align= center rowspan=2 | Guns
! width=25%; align= center rowspan=2 | Commander
! width=9%; align= center colspan=3 | Casualties
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! width=3%; align= center | Killed
! width=3%; align= center | Wounded
! width=3%; align= center | Total
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!colspan="9" style="background: white"|Van
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 64
| align = left | Captain Charles Inglis
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain Charles Thompson
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| align = left |
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 64
| align = left | Captain Anthony James Pye Molloy
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| align = left | HMS Torbay
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain John Lewis Gidoin
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 70
| align = left | Rear-Admiral Francis Samuel Drake<br />Captain Charles Knatchbull
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| align = left |Flagship of van
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| align = center | Second rate
| align = center | 98
| align = left | Captain James Williams
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| align = left |
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain Nicholas Charrington
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!colspan="8" style="background: white"|Centre
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 64
| align = left | Captain George Wilkinson
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain John Knight
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain Charles Saxton
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| align = center | Second rate
| align = center | 98
| align = left | Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood<br />Captain Alexander Hood
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| align = left |Flagship of centre
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain Francis Reynolds
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| align = left |
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 64
| align = left | Captain Lord Cranstoun
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain John Nicholson Inglefield
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain William Bayne
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!colspan="8" style="background: white"|Rear
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain Henry Edwyn Stanhope
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| align = left |
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain Lord Robert Manners
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|- valign="top"
| align = left |
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Commodore Edmund Affleck<br />Captain Thomas Graves
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| align = left | Flagship of Rear
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain William Cornwallis
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| align = left |
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 64
| align = left | Captain Andrew Barclay
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| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 74
| align = left | Captain George Bowen
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| align = left |
| align = center | Third rate
| align = center | 64
| align = left | Captain Samuel Thompson
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!colspan="8" style="background: white"|Attached frigates
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!colspan="8" style="background: white"|Van
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| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 20
| align = left | Captain George Wilson
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!colspan="8" style="background: white"|Centre
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| align = left |
| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 28
| align = left | Captain John Stanhope
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| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 28
| align = left | Captain Hugh Cloberry Christian
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| align = left |
| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 28
| align = left | Captain Edmund Dod
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| align = left |
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| align = left |
| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 20
| align = left | Captain Thomas West
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| align = left |To repeat signals
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| align = center | Fifth rate
| align = center | 32
| align = left | Captain Henry Harvey
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| align = left |
| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 28
| align = left | Captain John M’Laurin
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!colspan="8" style="background: white"|Rear
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| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 28
| align = left | Captain John Norton
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| align = left |
| align = center | Sixth rate
| align = center | 28
| align = left | Captain Charles Everitt
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!colspan="9" style="background: white"|Total recorded casualties: 72 killed, 244 wounded
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France
{| class="wikitable" width=100%
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|+Admiral de Grasse's fleet
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! width=8%; align= center rowspan=2 | Division
! width=17%; align= center rowspan=2 | Ship
! width=5%; align= center rowspan=2 | Guns
! width=25%; align= center rowspan=2 | Commander
! width=9%; align= center colspan=3 | Casualties
! width=36%; align= center rowspan=2 | Notes
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! width=3%; align= center | Killed
! width=3%; align= center | Wounded
! width=3%; align= center | Total
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| rowspan="26", align= center | <!-- Division info-->
| align= left | Souverain
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Glandevès du Castellet
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Hercule
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Chadeau de la Clocheterie
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Languedoc
| align= center | 80
| align= left | Arros d'Argelos
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Duc de Bourgogne
| align= center | 80
| align= left | Champmartin<br />Barras de Saint-Laurent (Lieutenant General)
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Marseillais
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Castellane Majastre
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Jason
| align= center | 64
| align= left | Couète de Villages
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Magnanime
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Le Bègue de Germiny
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Zélé
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Gras-Préville
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|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Éveillé
| align= center | 64
| align= left | Le Gardeur de Tilly
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Saint-Esprit
| align= center | 80
| align= left | Chabert-Cogolin
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Sceptre
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Vaudreuil
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Ville de Paris
| align= center | 104
| align= left | De Grasse (Lieutenant General)<br />Cresp de Saint-Césaire (Flag captain)
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | César
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Coriolis d'Espinouse
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|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left |Northumberland
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Bricqueville
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|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Diadème
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Monteclerc
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<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Glorieux
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Pérusse des Cars
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| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Citoyen
| align= center | 74
| align= left | De Thy
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| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Scipion
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Dassas
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| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Ardent
| align= center | 64
| align= left | Bernard de Marigny
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| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left |Neptune
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Renaud d'Aleins
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| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Auguste
| align= center | 80
| align= left | Bougainville (Chef d'Escadre)<br />Castellan (flag captain)
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| align= center |
| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Bourgogne
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Charritte
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| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Pluton
| align= center | 74
| align= left | Albert de Rions
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| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Caton
| align= center | 64
| align= left | Framond
| align= center |
| align= center |
| align= center |
| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Sagittaire
| align= center | 50
| align= left | Montluc de la Bourdonnaye
| align= center |
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| align= center |
| align= left |
|- valign="center"
<!-- | Division info-->
| align= left | Experiment
| align= center | 50
| align= left | Médine
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Citations
References
- Clowes, William Laird., (1897) The Royal Navy: a history from the earliest time to the present, Volume 3
- Jaques, Tony Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E Greenwood 2006
- Marley, F. David. Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present ABC-CLIO (1998).
External links
- Buttrey Manuscript "Battle of St. Kitts - perhaps first hand account