Raid on Boulogne
Raid on Boulogne | |||||||
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Part of the Napoleonic Wars | |||||||
Plan and key. The Attack on Boulogne Oct 1804, watercolour by E. D. Lewis (HMS Tartarus)) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Lord Keith Sidney Smith | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 ship lost |
The Raid on Boulogne in 1804 was a naval assault by elements of the Royal Navy on the fortified French port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the Napoleonic Wars. It differed from the conventional tactics of naval assaults of the period by utilizing a wide range of new equipment produced by the American inventor Robert Fulton, with the backing of the Admiralty. Despite its ambitious aims the assault produced little material damage to the French fleet anchored in the harbour, but did perhaps contribute to a growing sense of defeatism amongst the French as to their chances of crossing the English Channel in the face of the Royal Navy and launching a successful invasion of the United Kingdom.
Prelude
Boulogne and the Armée de l'Angleterre
With tensions running high in Britain, prominent politicians suggested attacking the French force in port, in the hopes of at the very least delaying the anticipated invasion while defences were hurriedly constructed along the coast. Boulogne had been heavily fortified over the years, and a number of conventional assaults had already failed, notable being one commanded by Horatio Nelson in 1801. The invasion barges were defended by a double line of warships anchored nose-to-tail, with these covered by gun batteries lining the cliff tops.[5] New methods had to be considered.
British plans for attack
Preparations
Napoleon left Boulogne on 27 August, bound for
The force assembled outside Boulogne in later September, under the overall command of Lord Keith aboard his flagship HMS Monarch. There to witness the operation were Lord Melville and Fulton.[12] Fulton had negotiated a sum of £40,000 for the first decked ship destroyed in the attack, and half the value of any ship destroyed, on top of his salary of £200 a month.[12] However Keith made no attempt to conceal the British force, and the French were alerted that an attack could be imminent.[13] By 9pm on the night of 2 October the wind and tide were judged right and the flotilla began to approach the harbour.[12]
Raid
The British approached in three divisions. The fireships were escorted in by several gun-brigs, accompanied by Fulton's torpedo-catamarans, up to 18 in total.[11][14] The French had responded to the increased British forces by anchoring their line of frigates further inshore, and deploying a protective line of pinnaces. The French sentries soon spotted the approaching ships and opened fire.[11] Abandoning any hope of achieving surprise the crews on the fireships steered full ahead, set the mechanisms and abandoned ship. The results were visually spectacular but achieved little. One fireship exploded in the gap between two frigates, another passed between the French line and exploded beyond it. Another was stopped by a French pinnace, whose crew boarded it and began to search it. While they were doing this it blew up, killing the French aboard it, and destroying the pinnace alongside.[11] This was the only success of the night, neither the torpedo catamarans nor the exploding casks achieved any successes.[11] The British remained in action until 4am the next morning, when a gale forced them to seek shelter in the Downs.[15]
Aftermath
The action had achieved disappointingly little as far as the British were concerned. Fulton claimed that his machines had not been used properly, and began to refine them to make them easier to handle.
Notes
- ^ Best. Trafalgar. p. 15.
- ^ Best. Trafalgar. p. 35.
- ^ a b Best. Trafalgar. p. 43.
- ^ Best. Trafalgar. pp. 55–7.
- ^ a b Best. Trafalgar. p. 73.
- ^ Best. Trafalgar. p. 70.
- ^ a b Philip. Robert Fulton. p. 160.
- ^ Best. Trafalgar. p. 64.
- ^ Best. Trafalgar. p. 65.
- ^ Philip. Robert Fulton. p. 161.
- ^ a b c d e f g Best. Trafalgar. p. 80.
- ^ a b c Best. Trafalgar. p. 79.
- ^ Best. Trafalgar. p. 78.
- ^ Brodie. From Crossbow to H-bomb. p. 117.
- ^ Philip. Robert Fulton. p. 162.
- ^ a b c d e Best. Trafalgar. p. 82.
- ^ Adkins. The War for all the Oceans. p. 140.
- ^ Dickinson. Robert Fulton - Engineer and Artist. p. 187.
- ^ Pocock. The Terror Before Trafalgar. p. 190.
References
- Adkins, Roy; Adkins, Lesley (2007). The War for all the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo. Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11916-8.
- Best, Nicholas (2005). Trafalgar: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sea Battle in History. London: Phoenix. ISBN 0-7538-2095-1.
- Brodie, Bernard; Brodie, Fawn McKay (1973). From Crossbow to H-bomb. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-20161-6.
- Philip, Cynthia Owen (2003). Robert Fulton: A Biography. iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-26203-1.
- Philip, H. W. (2008). Robert Fulton – Engineer and Artist. Read Books. ISBN 978-1-4437-5923-6.
- Pocock, Tom (2005). The Terror Before Trafalgar: Nelson, Napoleon, and the Secret War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-681-X.
External links
- Media related to Raid on Boulogne at Wikimedia Commons