Frigate action of 29 May 1794
Encyclopedia
The frigate action of 29 May 1794—not to be confused with the much larger fleet action of 29 May 1794 that took place in the same waters at the same time—was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars
between a Royal Navy
frigate
and a French Navy
frigate. The action formed a minor part of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794
, a campaign which culminated in the battle of the Glorious First of June
, and was unusual in that the French ship Castor
had only been in French hands for a few days at the time of the engagement. Castor had previously been a British ship, seized on 19 May by a French battle squadron in the Bay of Biscay
and converted to French service while still at sea. While the main fleets manoeuvered around one another, Castor was detached in pursuit of a Dutch merchant ship and on 29 May encountered the smaller independently cruising British frigate HMS Carysfort
.
Captain Francis Laforey
on Carysfort immediately attacked the larger ship and in an engagement lasting an hour and fifteen minutes successfully forced its captain to surrender, discovering a number of British prisoners of war below decks. Castor was subsequently taken back to Britain and an extended legal case ensued between the Admiralty
and Captain Laforey over the amount of prize money
that should be awarded for the victory. Ultimately Laforey was successful, in part due to testimony from the defeated French captain, proving his case and claiming the prize money. The lawsuit did not harm Laforey's career and he later served at the Battle of Trafalgar
and became a prominent admiral.
, which gathered in a large convoy of merchant vessels off Hampton Roads
in Virginia
. On 2 April the convoy sailed for Europe under Contre-Admiral Pierre Vanstabel, expecting to meet a squadron under Contre-Admiral Joseph-Marie Nielly
on route while the main French Atlantic Fleet under Contre-Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse held off the British Channel Fleet
under Lord Howe
. On 6 May, Nielly's ships sailed from Rochefort
and soon passed out of the Bay of Biscay
and into the Central Atlantic, where they encountered a British convoy sailing from Newfoundland. The convoy was unprepared for the encounter, and escorted only by the frigate
HMS Castor
under Captain Thomas Troubridge. Nielly, whose squadron included five ships of the line and several smaller warships, ordered an attack on the convoy and after a brief chase ten merchant ships were captured and Castor was run down by the ship of the line
Patriote
, the British vessel offering no resistance in the face of such overwhelming odds.
Troubridge and most of his crew were removed from their ship and taken aboard Nielly's flagship Sans Pareil
, where they remained for the rest of the campaign. They were replaced by 200 French sailors taken from Nielly's squadron, as Castor was hastily refitted at sea for service with the French Navy. Command was given to Captain L'Huillier, who operated as a scout for Nielly's squadron until 24 May, when he became detached while chasing the Dutch merchant ship Maria Gertruda, which had been separated from a Dutch convoy that had been attacked by Villaret's fleet on 19 May. Separated from Nielly's ships, L'Huillier turned back towards Europe with the Dutch ship in tow. While the French fleets and squadrons searched the Eastern Atlantic for the convoy, the Royal Navy was equally active with a number of squadrons and independently sailing warships complementing the main fleet under Lord Howe. One such ship was the small 28-gun frigate HMS Carysfort
under Captain Francis Laforey
. Laforey was cruising the Eastern Atlantic for signs of the French convoy when on 29 May his lookouts sighted two sails ahead.
Laforey's success was considered impressive by historian William James
, as his ship carried only 28 nine-pounder cannon in contrast with L'Huillier's 32 twelve-pounder guns and four 24-pounder carronades. Castor was also a larger ship with a slightly larger crew, and although L'Huillier and his men had only been aboard for ten days, the crew of Carysfort had only come together immediately before the cruise and had not had much longer to become acquainted with their vessel than the French crew.
, at which Sans Pareil was captured by Lord Howe's fleet. The French fleet was defeated, losing seven ships, but the convoy had passed safely to the north during the battle and eventually reached France without interception by the cruising British squadrons.
When Castor returned to Britain, the frigate was classed by the Admiralty
and the Navy Board
as "salvage" rather than as a prize. The laws regarding salvage meant that the proportion of prize money
due to be paid to Laforey and his crew was significantly reduced by the declaration. The grounds for this judgement were that after its capture by the French, Castor was not taken into a French harbour and properly condemned by a French prize court and commissioned into the French Navy, the normal legal requirement for what was termed a "complete prize". On behalf of his men Laforey brought a legal challenge against the ruling to the High Court of Admiralty to determine the status of Castor. The judge, Sir James Marriott
, heard evidence from a number of parties, including a deposition
by Captain L'Huillier that described Admiral Nielly's standing orders to fit out any captured warships at sea for continued service in the campaign. After considering the evidence Marriott ruled that Castor was a legitimate prize "setting forth as a ship of war", and that the normal prize rules should apply to Laforey's case. The prize money for the purchase of the frigate was therefore authorised to be paid at Plymouth
on 20 July 1795.
The result of the case did not damage Laforey's career: his junior officers were promoted after the action and he was given command of the larger frigate HMS Aimable. He went on to serve at the Battle of Trafalgar
and become a full admiral before his death in 1835. However, historian Tom Wareham has speculated that the legal case was probably the reason that Laforey was denied the knighthood
that customarily accompanied a successful frigate action at this stage of the war. More than five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants from Carysfort still living in 1847.
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
between a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
and a French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
frigate. The action formed a minor part of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794
Atlantic campaign of May 1794
The Atlantic campaign of May 1794 was a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy's Channel Fleet against the French Navy's Atlantic Fleet, with the aim of preventing the passage of a strategically important French grain convoy travelling from the United States to France...
, a campaign which culminated in the battle of the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
, and was unusual in that the French ship Castor
HMS Castor (1785)
HMS Castor was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French briefly captured her during the Atlantic Campaign of May 1794 but she spent just 20 days in French hands as a British ship retook her before her...
had only been in French hands for a few days at the time of the engagement. Castor had previously been a British ship, seized on 19 May by a French battle squadron in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
and converted to French service while still at sea. While the main fleets manoeuvered around one another, Castor was detached in pursuit of a Dutch merchant ship and on 29 May encountered the smaller independently cruising British frigate HMS Carysfort
HMS Carysfort (1766)
HMS Carysfort was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned over forty years....
.
Captain Francis Laforey
Francis Laforey
Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, 2nd Baronet, KCB was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, whose distinguished service record included numerous frigate commands in Home waters and in the West Indies...
on Carysfort immediately attacked the larger ship and in an engagement lasting an hour and fifteen minutes successfully forced its captain to surrender, discovering a number of British prisoners of war below decks. Castor was subsequently taken back to Britain and an extended legal case ensued between the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
and Captain Laforey over the amount of prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
that should be awarded for the victory. Ultimately Laforey was successful, in part due to testimony from the defeated French captain, proving his case and claiming the prize money. The lawsuit did not harm Laforey's career and he later served at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
and became a prominent admiral.
Background
During the spring of 1794, the newly declared French Republic faced famine. In an effort to secure the required food supplies, large quantities were ordered from the French American colonies and from the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which gathered in a large convoy of merchant vessels off Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. On 2 April the convoy sailed for Europe under Contre-Admiral Pierre Vanstabel, expecting to meet a squadron under Contre-Admiral Joseph-Marie Nielly
Joseph-Marie Nielly
Joseph-Marie Nielly was a French naval officer and admiral.Nielly began his career aged seven aboard the Formidable, and was wounded at the Battle of Quiberon Bay, on 20 November 1759. He sailed in the Caribbean until 1769, when he joined the merchant navy.In 1774, aged 23, he received his first...
on route while the main French Atlantic Fleet under Contre-Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse held off the British Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
under Lord Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
. On 6 May, Nielly's ships sailed from 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:...
and soon passed out of the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
and into the Central Atlantic, where they encountered a British convoy sailing from Newfoundland. The convoy was unprepared for the encounter, and escorted only by the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
HMS Castor
HMS Castor (1785)
HMS Castor was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. The French briefly captured her during the Atlantic Campaign of May 1794 but she spent just 20 days in French hands as a British ship retook her before her...
under Captain Thomas Troubridge. Nielly, whose squadron included five ships of the line and several smaller warships, ordered an attack on the convoy and after a brief chase ten merchant ships were captured and Castor was run down by the ship 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...
Patriote
French ship Patriote (1785)
The Patriote was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She was one of the French ships which had their hull doubled with copper....
, the British vessel offering no resistance in the face of such overwhelming odds.
Troubridge and most of his crew were removed from their ship and taken aboard Nielly's flagship Sans Pareil
HMS Sans Pareil (1794)
HMS Sans Pareil was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the French ship Sans Pareil, but was captured in 1794 and spent the rest of her career in service with the British.-French service:...
, where they remained for the rest of the campaign. They were replaced by 200 French sailors taken from Nielly's squadron, as Castor was hastily refitted at sea for service with the French Navy. Command was given to Captain L'Huillier, who operated as a scout for Nielly's squadron until 24 May, when he became detached while chasing the Dutch merchant ship Maria Gertruda, which had been separated from a Dutch convoy that had been attacked by Villaret's fleet on 19 May. Separated from Nielly's ships, L'Huillier turned back towards Europe with the Dutch ship in tow. While the French fleets and squadrons searched the Eastern Atlantic for the convoy, the Royal Navy was equally active with a number of squadrons and independently sailing warships complementing the main fleet under Lord Howe. One such ship was the small 28-gun frigate HMS Carysfort
HMS Carysfort (1766)
HMS Carysfort was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She served during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned over forty years....
under Captain Francis Laforey
Francis Laforey
Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, 2nd Baronet, KCB was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, whose distinguished service record included numerous frigate commands in Home waters and in the West Indies...
. Laforey was cruising the Eastern Atlantic for signs of the French convoy when on 29 May his lookouts sighted two sails ahead.
Battle
Laforey immediately advanced on the strange sails, which were soon revealed to be Castor and the Dutch merchant ship. With Carysfort bearing down on him L'Huillier cast off the tow and prepared for battle, meeting the approaching British frigate with a broadside. The engagement was fought at close range and with little manoeuvering by either side, the ships exchanging broadsides for an hour and fifteen minutes before L'Huillier surrendered. His ship was heavily battered in the exchange, with the main topgallantmast knocked down and the mainmast and hull severely damaged. Carysfort suffered just one man killed and four wounded from the understrength crew of 180, while casualties were much heavier among the approximately 200 men aboard Castor, the French losing 16 men killed and nine wounded. The Dutch ship initially escaped, but was later captured and its value was eventually included in the prize money paid for Castor.Laforey's success was considered impressive by historian William James
William James (naval historian)
William M. James was a British lawyer turned naval historian who wrote important naval histories of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815.-Career:...
, as his ship carried only 28 nine-pounder cannon in contrast with L'Huillier's 32 twelve-pounder guns and four 24-pounder carronades. Castor was also a larger ship with a slightly larger crew, and although L'Huillier and his men had only been aboard for ten days, the crew of Carysfort had only come together immediately before the cruise and had not had much longer to become acquainted with their vessel than the French crew.
Aftermath
Laforey placed a boarding party aboard Castor, who discovered an officer and 18 British sailors held as prisoners below decks, part of the original crew of the ship. These men were freed and joined the prize crew in bringing the ship back to Britain. The rest of the crew, including Captain Troubridge, remained on Nielly's flagship throughout the subsequent campaign and witnessed the battle of the Glorious First of JuneGlorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
, at which Sans Pareil was captured by Lord Howe's fleet. The French fleet was defeated, losing seven ships, but the convoy had passed safely to the north during the battle and eventually reached France without interception by the cruising British squadrons.
When Castor returned to Britain, the frigate was classed by the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
and the Navy Board
Navy Board
The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
as "salvage" rather than as a prize. The laws regarding salvage meant that the proportion of prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
due to be paid to Laforey and his crew was significantly reduced by the declaration. The grounds for this judgement were that after its capture by the French, Castor was not taken into a French harbour and properly condemned by a French prize court and commissioned into the French Navy, the normal legal requirement for what was termed a "complete prize". On behalf of his men Laforey brought a legal challenge against the ruling to the High Court of Admiralty to determine the status of Castor. The judge, Sir James Marriott
James Marriott
Sir James Marriott was a prominent British judge, politician and scholar of the late eighteenth century who is best known for his service at the High Court of Admiralty, the highest court in Britain dealing with naval and maritime affairs...
, heard evidence from a number of parties, including a deposition
Deposition (law)
In the law of the United States, a deposition is the out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that is reduced to writing for later use in court or for discovery purposes. It is commonly used in litigation in the United States and Canada and is almost always conducted outside of court by the...
by Captain L'Huillier that described Admiral Nielly's standing orders to fit out any captured warships at sea for continued service in the campaign. After considering the evidence Marriott ruled that Castor was a legitimate prize "setting forth as a ship of war", and that the normal prize rules should apply to Laforey's case. The prize money for the purchase of the frigate was therefore authorised to be paid at Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 20 July 1795.
The result of the case did not damage Laforey's career: his junior officers were promoted after the action and he was given command of the larger frigate HMS Aimable. He went on to serve at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
and become a full admiral before his death in 1835. However, historian Tom Wareham has speculated that the legal case was probably the reason that Laforey was denied the knighthood
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
that customarily accompanied a successful frigate action at this stage of the war. More than five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants from Carysfort still living in 1847.