Английская Википедия:Action of 13 May 1779

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox military conflict The action of 13 May 1779 was a battle in Cancale Bay, near St Malo, between a French and a British squadron of frigates. The French force had been part of the escort meant for Karl Heinrich von Nassau-Siegen's invasion of Jersey. When that invasion failed on 1 May the French retreated to Coutances. The British brought together a large squadron of frigates under Captain Sir James Wallace and Captain John Gidoin, which then split in two to attack the French squadron against the coast in a pincer manoeuvre.

On 13 May Gidoin's squadron chased the French from Coutances up the coast to St Malo where Wallace's squadron awaited them. Wallace followed the French into Cancale Bay and attacked them; in response the French beached their ships and went ashore after having been cannonaded for an hour and a half. Wallace captured the frigate Шаблон:HMS and two merchant vessels, but was forced to burn the other vessels because of gunfire from gun batteries on shore. Wallace's squadron suffered minimal casualties. Danae would go on to be bought into the Royal Navy; the cutter Guepe and the gabarre Шаблон:Ship were the only French vessels the French were able to recover and repair.

Background

On 1 May 1779 a French invasion force led by Karl Heinrich von Nassau-Siegen attacked Jersey, intending to capture the island through a coup de main. The invasion force was made up of five ships of the line and a number of smaller vessels, together carrying 2,500 soldiers.Шаблон:EfnШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp The force attempted to land at Saint Ouen Bay, but a combined force of local militia and the 78th Regiment of Foot, which was garrisoned on the island, repulsed the attack. Unable to proceed with their landings, Nassau-Siegen's force put to sea again.Шаблон:Sfnp When the threat from the French force had been at its highest, the island's governor had sent a flyboat to Portsmouth to raise the alarm.Шаблон:Sfnp While on her way there the boat encountered the squadron of Rear-Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot at 10 a.m. on 2 May that was escorting a large convoy to North America. Arbuthnot took his force to the Channel Islands and arrived at Guernsey on 4 May to find that the invasion force had departed.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

While Arbuthnot sailed to relieve the islands, the messenger that had reached him continued on to Portsmouth. Admiral Sir Thomas Pye, the commander-in-chief there, ordered a group of frigates under the command of Captain John Gidoin of the frigate Шаблон:HMS to sail out to Jersey.Шаблон:Sfnp Arbuthnot departed Jerseyon 6 May, but left behind the frigate HMS Experiment under Captain Sir James Wallace to temporarily bolster naval forces in the area.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp Gidoin's force joined with Wallace at Boule Bay.Шаблон:Sfnp

Action in Cancale Bay

On 10 May the bailiff of Jersey sent a letter to Gidoin, who was the senior captain still on station, to report that a group of French ships that had been tasked with assisting the invasion, had been seen near the Chausey islands, situated between the French coast and the Channel Islands.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp Wallace, who had been preparing to leave the area and re-join Arbuthnot, instead chose to stay with Gidoin. Some small ships were sent out to Chausey to discover the nature of the French ships, and they soon reported that the French force consisted of the frigates Шаблон:HMS and Шаблон:Ship, the gabarre Шаблон:Ship, the corvette Шаблон:Ship, and cutter Шаблон:Ship, and that they were anchored off Coutances.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

Gidoin and Wallace decided to split their force to provide the greatest possible chance of intercepting the French ships before they could escape. Wallace, in Experiment, took with him the frigates Шаблон:HMS and Шаблон:HMS, the brig HMS Cabot, the sloop Шаблон:HMS, and one other vessel donated by the locals to assist in the hunt. Gidoin, in Richmond, took with him the four other ships of the squadron and three more local armed vessels.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp The two forces sailed on 12 May; Gidoin went directly for Coutances where the French were still at anchor, while Wallace took a westerly route around Jersey in order to cut off any escape route the French might have used.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

When Gidoin's force came in sight of the French, the French set sail north for St Malo, towards where Wallace was waiting for them. Gidoin chased the French but by 10 p.m. the tide was against him and his ships were making very little headway so he was forced to anchor off Granville. At the same time Wallace's force were beset by similar difficulties but by 7 p.m. had succeeded in getting round Jersey.Шаблон:Sfnp

Файл:HMS Experiment 4th rate 50 guns 1775 by Joseph Marshall LW SCMU 1864 0007 0001.jpg

A model of the lead British ship in the attack, Experiment

At 3 a.m. on 13 May Gidoin set sail once more and at a slow pace struggled in the direction the French had been sailing; at 10 a.m. he discovered Wallace's squadron ahead of him, chasing the French who had anchored at Cancale Bay. Gidoin was not able to make up the distance to Wallace and the French force, and would play no role in the subsequent action.Шаблон:Sfnp

In the early morning daylight of 13 May Wallace, still sailing for the French, found another French frigate sailing from St Malo to assist her brethren in Cancale Bay. Wallace chased this new opponent under the guns of the batteries of St Malo, where she stayed. Unable to continue his assault on the frigate, Wallace redirected his force towards the original group of French ships, which were off to his left, just outside the bay itself.Шаблон:Sfnp

The French sailed into the bay in an attempt to escape the attack but Wallace, leading the chase in Experiment, followed them in.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp Diane escaped past Experiment back out of the bay, while the rest of the French squadron sailed towards the protection of a gun battery further in.Шаблон:Sfnp Danae had ten men killed and 20 wounded before her crew ran her aground and abandoned her in the bay, without her commander having given any such order. When the crews of the other French vessels saw DanaeШаблон:'s crew abandon her, they too abandoned their vessels. The French did not set fire to Danae as they were unable to extract her sick and wounded.Шаблон:Sfnp

The rest of Wallace's squadron having caught up with him, the British opened fire on the beached vessels for an hour and a half, forcing the French crews to leave their ships and escape to safety further inland. While the French squadron now lay defenceless, Wallace's attack had caused the local French militia to mobilise. The militia brought a number of cannon and howitzers to the bay and began to fire at the British ships.Шаблон:Sfnp Being now in the dangerous position of being fired on in an enclosed bay, Wallace was not able to bring all the French vessels off the shore as prizes.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp Instead he ordered that two of the ships be burned where they lay, and for the cutter Dieppe, also in the bay, to be scuttled.Шаблон:EfnШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp Danae was successfully brought off and captured alongside two merchantmen, a brig and the sloop Fleur.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp Valeur, Ecluse, and Guepe were among the ships set on fire.Шаблон:Sfnp

While Wallace's orders were being enacted on the stranded French warships, a battery of six 12-pounders had been erected and manned by the crews of the deserted ships. The battery began a concerted fire on Experiment that so frustrated Wallace that after Danae had been secured, he took control of the frigate from her pilots. He sailed her up the bay to lay up against the battery, which after forty-five minutes he destroyed and forced the crews to leave.Шаблон:Efn The British then sailed from the bay with their prizes, which were sent to England.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

For the British, casualties and losses in the action were minor. Experiment had been heavily damaged in the hull and sails by the batteries engaging her, and lost two men killed and thirteen wounded. Apart from this the only casualties came from Cabot, which had suffered three men wounded, including her purser who had his leg shot off.Шаблон:Sfnp

Aftermath

Pallas brought Danae into Plymouth on 17 May. The Royal Navy brought her into service under the same name. In reward for the success of the endeavour Commander Charles Powell Hamilton of Fortune and Commander Edmund Dod of Cabot were promoted to post-captain, and Lieutenant John Wallace of Experiment was promoted to commander.Шаблон:Sfnp Experiment would go on to re-join Arbuthnot's force, which was still at Torbay, and sail to New York.Шаблон:Sfnp

While several of the vessels burned by the British were unsalvageable, the French did succeed in rescuing Guepe after Wallace had left the bay,Шаблон:Sfnp and later recovered Ecluse. Diane escaped.Шаблон:Efn The destruction of their ships forced the French to abandon their plans to capture Jersey for use as a privateering and observation base, as they no longer had enough escorts available to protect an invasion force.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp The French tried again in 1781, but British forces on the island repelled the invasion at the Battle of Jersey.

Order of Battle

British squadron
Ship	Guns	Commander	Casualties	Refs
Experiment	50	Captain Sir James Wallace	2 killed, 13 wounded	Шаблон:Sfnp
Шаблон:HMS	36	Captain Thomas Spry	rowspan=2 Шаблон:N/a	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp
Шаблон:HMS	20	Captain John Ford	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp
Cabot	12/14	Commander Edmund Dod	3 wounded	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp
Шаблон:HMS	12/14	Commander Charles Powell Hamilton	rowspan=2 Шаблон:N/a	Шаблон:Sfnp
Armed lugger	colspan=2 Шаблон:Unknown	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

French squadron
Ship	Guns	Commander	Fate	Refs
Шаблон:HMS	34	Lieutenant de vaisseau de Kergariou Coatles	Captured	Шаблон:Sfnp
Шаблон:Ship	26		Escaped	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp
Dieppe	16		Scuttled	Шаблон:Sfnp
Шаблон:ShipШаблон:Efn	8		Burned but recovered	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp
Valeur	14		Burned	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp
Guepe	6 or 10		Burned but recovered	Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

References

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