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The Action of 10 April 1795 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars in which a squadron of French Navy frigates was intercepted by a British battle squadron under Rear-Admiral John Colpoys which formed part of the blockade of the French naval base of Brest in Brittany. The French squadron split up in the face of superior British numbers, the three vessels seeking to divide and outrun the British pursuit. One frigate, ''Gloire'' was followed by the British frigate HMS ''Astraea'' and was ultimately brought to battle in a closely fought engagement. Although the ships were roughly equal in size, the British ship was easily able to defeat the French in an engagement lasting just under an hour. The other French ships were pursued by British ships of the line and the chase lasted much longer, into the morning of 11 April when HMS ''Hannibal'' caught the frigate ''Gentille''. ''Hannibal'' was far larger than its opponent and the French captain surrendered immediately rather than fight a futile engagement. The third French frigate, ''Fraternité'' successfully escaped. After refitting in Portsmouth, Colpoys' ships returned to their station off Brest, the blockade remaining in place for the remainder of the year. ==Background== Great Britain and France had been at war for more than two years by April 1795, and British dominance at sea was well established, with the Royal Navy maintaining substantial blockade fleets off all of the principal French naval ports.〔 The biggest port on the French Atlantic coast was at Brest in Brittany, from which French raiders could attack British shipping in the English Channel and Western Atlantic. The most efficient commerce raiders were frigates, light and fast warships that could strike rapidly and with devastating effect if left unopposed. One of the major roles of the British blockade squadrons was the detection and elimination of French frigates as they emerged from their bases.〔Gardiner, p. 140〕 In April 1795, the inshore squadron of the British blockade at Brest was commanded by Rear-Admiral John Colpoys, who had at his command five ships of the line: HMS ''London'', HMS ''Valiant'', HMS ''Colossus'', HMS ''Hannibal'' and HMS ''Robust'' and frigates HMS ''Astraea'' and HMS ''Thalia''. Colpoys' ships had formed an effective blockade: on 29 March they had taken the French corvette ''Jean Bart'' and the following day recaptured a lost British merchant ship. At 10:00 on 10 April, the British squadron was cruising off the approaches to Brest when three ships were spotted to the west.〔 Colpoys immediately ordered his squadron to give chase and at 12:00 the strange ships were identified as a squadron of French frigates. The French ships were the 36-gun ''Gloire'', ''Gentille'' and ''Fraternité'', led by Captain Beens of ''Gloire'' and on a three-month raiding cruise from Brest in the Bay of Biscay that had so-far been uneventful: the only prize taken had been a small Spanish merchant brig.〔 Beens quickly discovered the danger his squadron was in, and gave orders for them to sail westwards away from the British squadron. However, the wind favoured Colpoys and his vastly superior squadron rapidly gained on the French frigates. The first British ship to come within range was the 74-gun HMS ''Colossus'' under Captain John Monkton, which managed to exchange distant gunfire with the rearmost French ship before the gap widened once more.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Action of 10 April 1795」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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