Action of 4 September 1782

Action of 4 September 1782 Part of the Anglo-French War Date 4 September 1782 Location off Île de Batz, France Result British victory[1] Belligerents  Great Britain  France Commanders and leaders Captain Henry Trollope Capitaine Chevalier de Vigny Strength 1 frigate HMS Rainbow 1 frigate Hébé Casualties and losses 1 killed & 2 wounded 1 frigate captured 5 killed, 7 wounded & 360 captured[2]

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The Action of 4 September 1782 was a small naval engagement which was fought off the Île de Batz between a French naval frigate Hébé and a Royal Naval frigate HMS Rainbow. This battle was notable as the first proper use of a carronade and so effective was this weapon that the French commander promptly surrendered just after the first broadside.^[3]

Action

On 4 September the 44 gun frigate HMS Rainbow under Captain Henry Trollope armed entirely with carronades was off the French coast near the Île de Batz when a frigate was sighted. Having then chased the vessel it turned to be a French frigate Hébé . Hébé of 1,063 tons was a new ship of the class of the same name whose armament consisted of 38 guns, twenty six of which were 18-pounder long guns. It was commanded by the Chevalier de Vigny (father of Alfred de Vigny) and had on board 360 men. Hébé had left Saint-Malo on 3 September and was heading to Brest escorting a small convoy.^[4]

At 7 am, having arrived within gunshot of the French ship, the Rainbow commenced firing 32-pounder chase guns from the forecastle which were returned by the frigate. An hour and a half later the ships manoeuvred for position and Captain Trollope then having got alongside, engaged Hébé firing a single broadside. The effect was devastating; Hébé's wheel was shot away and one sixty-eight pound ball shot away her foremast, as well as killing and wounding a number of the crew.^[2]

Schematics of a Carronade

Vigny examined the fragments of the hollow carronade shot and concluded that if she was firing 32-pounders as chase pieces she was actually a ship of the line in disguise. He fired one broadside, "pour l'honneur du pavillon,” (the honour of the flag) and struck his colours.^[2] The surrender of Hébé after slight resistance was not surprising taking into consideration the advantage provided by the unusual armament of the Rainbow.^[5][6]

Rainbow lost only one man killed and two slightly wounded. The French lost five killed, including the second captain, and several wounded out of a crew of 360 men.^[2]

Consequences

A council of war was met at Morlaix whereby the loss of a new frigate, with barely a fight, condemned Vigny to fifteen years in prison, the case of his rank and service being declared as unfit for service. The captured ship was immediately integrated into the Royal Navy as HMS Hebe. After being renamed HMS Blonde in 1805 it was finally broken up in 1811.^[7]

More importantly for the Navy, Hebe would serve as a model for a new series of British frigates, the Leda class, the first of which was launched in 1800. The new class would include HMS Surprise (1812), HMS Trincomalee (1817), HMS Unicorn (1824), and a second HMS Hebe (1826).^[7]

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Allen, Joseph (1852). Battles of the British Navy. H.G. Bohn. ASIN B009ZMMQ56. 
• Blake, Nicholas (2005). The Illustrated Companion to Nelson's Navy. Stackpole Books,. ISBN 9780811732758. 
• Gardiner, Robert (2000). Frigates of the Napoleonic Wars. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1861762924. 
•  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Trollope, Henry". Dictionary of National Biography. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 
• Rodger, Nicholas (2004). The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649–1815. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-028896-4. 

External links

• "L'Hébé". 
• "Origins of the Leda class frigate". Archived from the original on 21 April 2013.