The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a limited frigate action that took place on 23 February 1809 off Les Sables-d'Olonne

Les Sables-d'Olonne

Les Sables-d'Olonne is a seaside town in western France, by the Atlantic Ocean. It is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Vendée department.-Events:...

. Three ships of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 and two attached ships of the British squadron blockading the harbours of the Atlantic coast engaged a small French frigate squadron comprising Calypso (40), Cybèle

French frigate Cybèle (1790)

The Cybèle was an Nymphe class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy.On 22 October 1794, soon after the outbreak of the war with England, and along with the 32-gun Prudente and the brig Coureur, she fought HMS Centurion and , who blockaded Ile de France. The French ships managed to drive away the...

 (40) and Italienne (40). The French managed to repel the British attack but at the cost of irreparable damage leading to the subsequent decommissioning of the three frigates involved.

Background

In February 1809, two British squadrons, each counting four ships of the line and several frigates, blockaded Lorient

Lorient

Lorient, or L'Orient, is a commune and a seaport in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France.-History:At the beginning of the 17th century, merchants who were trading with India had established warehouses in Port-Louis...

 and Île d'Aix. In Lorient they had trapped a strong frigate squadron under captain Amable Troude

Amable Troude

Amable Gilles Troude was a French Navy officer, hero of the Napoleonic wars.- Early career :...

 that comprised the heavy 40-gun frigates Cybèle, Italienne and Calypso.

The French conceived a plan by which a squadron from Brest, under rear Admiral Willaumez

Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez

Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez was a French sailor and admiral of the First French Empire....

, would sail to Lorient. It would then engage the blockading ships and distract them while Troude's squadron would set sail and make its junction with Willaumez' forces.

Willaumez departed Brest on 21 February 1809, leading a squadron of eight ships of the line and two frigate. They arrived off Lorient at nightfall. However, calms prevented the Lorient squadron from weighing anchor and the Brest squadron had left when Cybèle, Italienne and Calypso finally left harbour, under captain de La Gravière

Pierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière

Pierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière was a French naval officer.- Biography :Born at Gannat in Allier, La Gravière entered the service under the name Jurien Desvarennes as a novice pilot on the corvette La Favorite in May 1786.Volunteer aspirant on the frigate La Flore 29 November 1787, aspirant, 1st...

. They headed towards Rochefort

Rochefort, Charente-Maritime

Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...

 in the hope of making their junction with Willaumez.

Action

On 23 February, the French frigate squadron arrived near Belle Île

Belle Île

Belle-Île or Belle-Île-en-Mer is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the département of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is 14 km from the Quiberon peninsula.Administratively, the island forms a canton: the canton of Belle-Île...

. The frigate HMS Amelia

HMS Amelia (1796)

Proserpine was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy captured by on 13 June 1796. The Admiralty commissioned Prosperine into the Royal Navy as the fifth rate, HMS Amelia...

 (38) and the 18-gun brig-sloop Dotterel spotted the squadron and shadowed it. A few hours later, Calypso spotted five ships and a frigate heading to Lorient. The chase went on all night. The next morning, as the frigates arrived off Tour de la Baleine on the Île de Ré

Île de Ré

Île de Ré is an island off the west coast of France near La Rochelle, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait....

, the British ships were so close that they started manoeuvering to pass the stern of Cybèle. The French then challenged Amelia and Dotterel, which failed to answer their signals, and Italienne hauled up to support Cybèle. La Gravière then decided to seek refuge at Les Sables-d'Olonne

Les Sables-d'Olonne

Les Sables-d'Olonne is a seaside town in western France, by the Atlantic Ocean. It is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Vendée department.-Events:...

, under the protection of coastal defences, before larger British forces could gather.

The French arrived at Les Sables-d'Olonne at 9:15 and made anchor in shallow waters. A quarter of an hour later, the British arrived, Amelia and Dotterel having joined with the Third Rates HMS Caesar

HMS Caesar (1793)

HMS Caesar, also Cæsar, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1793 at Plymouth. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only ship built to her draught.-Battle of Algeciras Bay:...

 (80), HMS Defiance

HMS Defiance (1783)

HMS Defiance was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Randall and Co., at Rotherhithe on the River Thames, and launched on 10 December 1783.-History:...

 (74) and HMS Donegal

HMS Donegal (1798)

The Barra was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was renamed Pégase in 1795, and Hoche in 1797. She was captured by the British on 12 October 1798 and recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Donegal....

 (74), under Admiral Robert Stopford. In spite of the shallow waters, Defiance was able to anchor within half a mile of the French frigates, on the right of Italienne, whilst HMS Donegal and HMS Caesar had to anchor further out because of their deeper draughts.

A furious artillery exchange broke out that caused considerable damage to all involved. Italienne and Cybèle had their cables cut and caught fire, while Calypso was beached. Three hours into the fight, Defiance, whose manoeuvers the high reefs had hampered, found herself stranded in an unfavourable position and exposed to French fire for so long that she had to retreat, her stern entirely destroyed. The frigates and coastal forts inflicted lesser damage on Caesar and Donegal. Amelia had her bowsprit shot through and she was holed in several places but had no casualties.

An hour and a half afterwards, descending tides made the waters too shallow for the British ships and they had to break off. Jurien de la Gravière's badly battered squadron then entered the harbour of Les Sables d'Olonne, having lost 64 men killed and 47 wounded.

Aftermath

The battle was presented as a victory on the French side as three 40-gun frigates had survived and fought off an 80-gun and two 74s. The British usually described the action as after "a heavy bombardment the French ships were driven on shore and were subsequently wrecked". The frigates did survive but were in such a battered state that Cybèle was declared irreparable and broken up. The French Navy declared Italienne and Calypso no longer suitable for naval duty and sold them for commerce.

French squadron

Commodore Jurien de la Gravière's squadron
Ship	Guns	Commander	Notes
Italienne	40	Commodore Jurien de la Gravière Pierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière Pierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière was a French naval officer.- Biography :Born at Gannat in Allier, La Gravière entered the service under the name Jurien Desvarennes as a novice pilot on the corvette La Favorite in May 1786.Volunteer aspirant on the frigate La Flore 29 November 1787, aspirant, 1st...	Too battered to serve in the Navy; sold to commerce
Cybèle French frigate Cybèle (1790) The Cybèle was an Nymphe class 40-gun frigate of the French Navy.On 22 October 1794, soon after the outbreak of the war with England, and along with the 32-gun Prudente and the brig Coureur, she fought HMS Centurion and , who blockaded Ile de France. The French ships managed to drive away the...	40	Captain Cocault	Irreparably damaged, broken up
Calypso	40		Too battered to serve in the Navy; sold to commerce

British squadron

Admiral Robert Stopford's squadron
Ship	Guns	Commander	Notes
HMS Caesar HMS Caesar (1793) HMS Caesar, also Cæsar, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1793 at Plymouth. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only ship built to her draught.-Battle of Algeciras Bay:...	80	Captain Charles Richardson
HMS Defiance HMS Defiance (1783) HMS Defiance was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Randall and Co., at Rotherhithe on the River Thames, and launched on 10 December 1783.-History:...	74	Captain Henry Hotham Henry Hotham Vice Admiral Sir Henry Hotham KCB was a Royal Navy hero who saw a great deal of service during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...	Stern damaged
HMS Donegal HMS Donegal (1798) The Barra was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was renamed Pégase in 1795, and Hoche in 1797. She was captured by the British on 12 October 1798 and recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Donegal....	74	Captain Pulteney Malcolm Pulteney Malcolm Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm GCB GCMG was a British naval officer. He was born at Douglan, near Langholm, Scotland, on 20 February 1768, the third son of George Malcolm of Burnfoot, Langholm, in Dumfriesshire, and his wife Margaret, the sister of Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley...	one man killed and six wounded

Attached ships
Ship	Guns	Commander	Notes
HMS Amelia HMS Amelia (1796) Proserpine was a 38-gun Hébé-class frigate of the French Navy captured by on 13 June 1796. The Admiralty commissioned Prosperine into the Royal Navy as the fifth rate, HMS Amelia...	38	Captain Frederick Paul Irby Frederick Paul Irby Rear Admiral The Hon. Frederick Paul Irby CB was a British Royal Navy officer and Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk.-Birth:...	Bowsprit shot through, hulled in several places; no casualties.
HMS Dotterel	18	Cmdr. Anthony Abdy