The action of 24 March 1811 was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought as part of the Royal Navyblockade of the French English Channel ports. By 1811, Royal Navy control of the French coast was so entrenched that French ships were unable to travel safely even in French territorial waters. In late 1810, French frigates Elisa and Amazone sailed from Le Havre to join with a larger squadron at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, but were intercepted by a British frigate squadron and forced to shelter at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. There they came under sustained attack and Elisa was destroyed, Amazone successfully slipping back to Le Havre under cover of darkness. To prevent Amazone from escaping once more, the British blockade squadron was reinforced.
On the evening of 23 March 1811, Amazone left Le Havre once more, sailing west towards Cherbourg through the night. Escaping the ships watching Le Havre, Amazone was sighted at dawn on 24 March weathering
Phare de Gatteville lighthouse. There Berwick, reinforced by a squadron of smaller ships, attacked Amazone but was unable to approach through the rocks and shoals of the coast. Plans were made overnight to attack the frigate with ship's boats, but on the following day the French Captain Bernard-Louis Rosseau
set his ship on fire to prevent its capture.
Action
By the autumn of 1810 the
ships of the line and a large, newly built frigate Iphigénie, while the frigates Elisa and Amazone were stationed at Le Havre.[2]
Both ports were watched closely by a blockade squadron detached from the
HMS Niobe, off Le Havre. On 12 November 1810 Elisa and Amazone attempted to break out of Le Havre and join with the squadron at Cherbourg, slipping past the blockade in the darkness. Spotted in the early hours of 13 November, the frigates managed to anchor at the well-defended harbour of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, where on 15 November they were attacked by the combined blockade forces from Cherbourg and Le Havre. Although the attack was beaten back, Elisa was too badly damaged to continue the mission and on 27 November Amazone successfully returned to Le Havre without encountering the British forces. Elisa was subsequently driven onshore and destroyed by the British squadron.[3]
Phare de Gatteville lighthouse, only a few miles from her destination, she was spotted by a British ship of the line recently sailed from the British fleet anchorage at St Helens, the 74-gun HMS Berwick under Captain James Macnamara, then sailing approximately 12 nautical miles (22 km) offshore. Macnamara took Berwick in pursuit, seeking to cut off Rosseau's advance, and the French captain managed to evade Berwick by taking shelter in a small bay 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) west of the lighthouse.[5]
Navigation through the rocks of the bay had been difficult, and as she entered the bay Amazone's
wore around, resulting in scattered and inaccurate fire. As they advanced, the British ships came under fire from Amazone, which killed one sailor on Berwick and killed one and wounded another on Amelia, while the British fire had no effect on the French ship. At 18:00, Macnamara withdrew his ships from the bay, all three vessels having suffered considerable damage to their rigging and sails from Amazone's shot.[5]
Aftermath
Macnamara considered plans to use
ship's boats to attack Amazone directly, but resolved to attempt to enter the bay again on the morning of 25 March. As dawn broke however it became apparent that Rosseau had abandoned his damaged ship with his crew, setting the frigate on fire as he departed. By the end of the day Amazone had been burnt to the waterline and destroyed.[5] Macnamara's squadron returned to their blockade duties off Cherbourg. The remaining frigate in the region, Iphigénie, did eventually succeed in breaking out of Cherbourg, but was intercepted and captured in the Atlantic during a raiding mission in January 1814.[6]
United Kingdom
French Empire.jpg)