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The Action of 10 November 1808 was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, in which a British frigate defeated and captured a French frigate in the Bay of Biscay. The action formed part of the blockade of the French Biscay ports during the war by the British Royal Navy, a strategy designed to prevent ships from entering or leaving French harbours, thus eliminating foreign trade with France and damaging the French economy as well as cutting France off from her overseas colonies. The French ship in the action, ''Thétis'', was destined for the French held West Indian island of Martinique with a cargo of flour and military supplies, including over 100 soldiers to reinforce the island's garrison. ''Thétis'' had not even cleared the French coast when she was discovered by a patrolling British frigate of the inshore squadron, a unit tasked with watching the entrance to the French Biscay ports, principally Brest, and intercepting any ships seeking to enter or leave the harbours. This frigate, HMS ''Amethyst'' chased ''Thétis'' and brought her to battle, closing with the French ship but preventing the soldiers aboard ''Thétis'' from boarding the British ship and using their superior numbers to overwhelm her with heavy and accurate gunfire. The battle lasted more than six hours and the French suffered over 130 men killed, including the captain and many of the soldiers aboard, before the crew of ''Amethyst'' was able to storm and capture ''Thétis''. Within minutes two additional British vessels arrived, attracted by the sound of gunfire, and helped secure the badly damaged ''Thétis'' for the journey to Britain. The battle was a blow for the French defenders of Martinique, who were isolated from France and suffering from shortages of military and food supplies. Although another supply frigate broke through the blockade and arrived in December 1808, the island was surrounded by British bases and was invaded and captured in January 1809. Other French colonies were seized over the next two years as the blockade cut off French communications with their overseas territories. ''Amethyst'' and her captain Michael Seymour were active in this campaign, capturing a second French frigate, ''Niémen'', at the Action of 6 April 1809. ==Background== By November 1808, the Napoleonic Wars had lasted five years. Although the French had conquered large swathes of mainland Europe, they were unable to exert any significant influence at sea, where the British Royal Navy had been dominant since the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. A vital part of Royal Navy strategy was the implementation of a close blockade of the major French seaports by squadrons of frigates and ships of the line, intended to intercept and capture any ships attempting to enter or leave French harbours. The greatest French Atlantic seaport, and consequently the most important target for the Royal Navy, was Brest, situated on the Northern Biscay coast.〔Gardiner, p. 17〕 Watching Brest were a large number of warships, divided into the inshore squadron designed to watch the coast directly and formed principally of frigates and small fast vessels, and the offshore squadron formed from heavy ships of the line and tasked with intercepting French fleets and battle squadrons spotted by the inshore squadron.〔Gardiner, p. 34〕 The efficiency of the British blockade was such that communication and reinforcement between France and her colonies was dangerous for the ships involved and so was severely limited. This led to shortages and disaffection among the French colonists, especially in the Caribbean, where they were surrounded by hostile British harbours and constantly raided and blockaded by British ships.〔Gardiner, p. 75〕 The island of Martinique was one of the more important French islands in the West Indies, but by late 1808 the island's economy had been crippled by the British blockade, and food stocks, military supplies and morale were all running low. In the summer a French dispatch vessel was intercepted by British warships, warning of the desperate state of the island's defences; similar messages that did reach France safely prompted an urgent response by the French Navy.〔James, p. 206〕 The frigate ''Thétis'', stationed to the south of Brest at Lorient, was selected to carry supplies to Martinique and given a full complement of 330 men, 40 cannon and a new captain, Jacques Pinsum. Supplies were loaded, including over 1,000 barrels of flour and 106 soldiers to reinforce the garrison at Martinique.〔 Secrecy was tight: to prevent the British discovering ''Thétis'' The French efforts to hide the frigate's mission and departure were initially successful: the British ships in the area were unaware of ''Thétis'' 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 November 1808」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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