Action of 17 June 1778
The action of 17 June 1778 also known as the Fight of Belle Poule and Arethusa was a minor naval action that took place off the coast of France between British and French frigates. The action was widely celebrated by both France and Great Britain and was the first between the two naval forces during the American Revolutionary War before a formal declaration of war was even announced.[2]
Background
On 13 June 1778,
Admiral Keppel, commanding the British fleet, ordered that the French ships be pursued and returned to his flagship by any means since he did not want the French ships to see the British strength.[2]
Action
Licorne did so, after being overhauled by two British ships HMS Milford, mounting 28 guns, and HMS America, of 64 guns. Licorne subsequently tried to escape during the night after having meditated on affairs, but surrendered after a brief combat with America, a vessel double her size.[2]
Meanwhile, Arethusa and the cutter
Soon the wind fell and with it the shot-torn loftier sails of Belle Poule. However, they held enough wind to drift her out of the reach of Arethusa's fire. Both ships were close under the French cliffs and Belle Poule struggled into a tiny
Meanwhile, Coureur was overtaken by the British cutter Alert, and after some resistance finally cooperated with being taken to Keppel's flagship. Hirondelle escaped the engagement entirely.[4]
Aftermath
Arethusa suffered 44 casualties from her 198-man crew, but the masts and rigging had been so severely damaged that the ship had to be towed by newly arrived British ships.[4] As other ships from Keppel's fleet approached, Belle Poule withdrew toward the French coast having lost 30 killed and 72 wounded, among them her captain, Lieutenant Jean Isaac Chadeau de la Clocheterie.[7]
This battle was the first between British and French naval forces during the
The battle was widely celebrated in France as a victory; ladies of the high society invented the hairstyle "Belle Poule", with a ship on the top of the head.[8]
With the capture of Licorne and Hirondelle it was also viewed as a victory in Britain and became the subject of a traditional
Arethusa is also the subject of a song on the Decemberists' album Her Majesty the Decemberists.
Notes
- ^ Charles Cunat gives a figure of 40 killed and 57 wounded. [1]
Citations
- ^ Cunat (1857), p. 380.
- ^ a b c Syrett (1998), p.36
- ^ a b Dupuy p. 210
- ^ a b c d Syrett (1998), p.38
- ^ Jean Cornuault, Un panorama de la marine de Louis XV à Charles X (Paris, 2008), pp. 87-91.
- ^ John Adolphus, History of England from the Accession to the Decease of King George the Third, vol. 3 (London, 1841), p. 5
- ^ "No. 11886". The London Gazette. 22 June 1778. p. 1.
- ^ "Hair and Hairdos of the 18th Century". 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
References
- Cunat, Charles (1857). Saint-Malo illustré par ses marins (in French). Imprimerie de F. Péalat. pp. 378–387.
- Syrett, David (1998). The Royal Navy in European Waters During the American Revolutionary War. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1570032386.
- Clowes, William Laird (2003). The Royal Navy: v. 4: A History - From the Earliest Times to 1900. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1861760128.
- Dupuy, Richard Ernest (1977). ISBN 9780679506485.