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Action of 18 June 1793
The Action of 18 June 1793 was the first decisive and one of the most celebrated encounters between British and French frigates during the French Revolutionary Wars. The action occurred off Start Point in Devon, when the British frigate HMS ''Nymphe'' encountered and chased the French frigate ''Cléopâtre''. During the previous month, ''Cléopâtre'' and another frigate, ''Sémillante'', had been successfully raiding British merchant shipping in the English Channel and Eastern Atlantic from their base at Cherbourg. In response, the British frigates ''Nymphe'' and HMS ''Venus'' had been ordered to intercept and defeat the French frigates and on 27 May ''Venus'' and ''Sémillante'' fought an inconclusive engagement off Cape Finisterre.
On 17 June, ''Nymphe'' was cruising alone off the Devon coast under Captain Edward Pellew when a sail appeared to the south east. Closing to investigate, Pellew rapidly identified the ship as ''Cléopâtre'' and gave chase, the French frigate initially fleeing but Captain Jean Mullon then turning to fight as ''Nymphe'' began to overtake his ship. At 06:15, with both crews cheering loudly, the frigates exchanged broadsides, the action lasting 50 minutes. Both ships fought hard, but at 07:10 the British crew were able to successfully board the French frigate and haul down the tricolour. Mullon was mortally wounded in the engagement, and his crew lost 63 casualties compared to 50 on board ''Nymphe''. Pellew returned to Britain with his prize, the first major French warship captured during the conflict, and was proclaimed a hero.
==Background==
In February 1793, the National Convention that governed the French Republic expanded the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars by declaring war on Great Britain and the Dutch Republic.〔 The light vessels of the British Royal Navy had been preparing for the conflict for several months, having concentrated in June 1792 at Spithead in anticipation of the outbreak of war. These ships were stationed in large numbers in the North Sea and the English Channel to defend British maritime trade against the threat of French commerce raiders operating from the French Channel ports.〔Woodman, p. 19〕 The French Navy by contrast was riven with the same social divisions that had divided France in the aftermath of the French Revolution four years earlier. This had led to the collapse of the professional officer corps and the elimination of the rank of trained seamen-gunners on the grounds of elitism, resulting in a dearth of experience both in seamanship and naval combat.〔
To counter their disadvantages, the French Navy operated several well-armed frigates from their Channel and Atlantic ports to intercept and disrupt the movement of British trade. Two of the most successful vessels in the early months of the war were the frigates ''Cléopâtre'' and ''Sémillante'' under Captains Jean Mullon and Gaillard respectively and based at Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula. In response to the depredations of French raiders, the Royal Navy stationed two frigates at Falmouth. The selected ships were HMS ''Venus'' under Captain Jonathan Faulknor and HMS ''Nymphe'' under Captain Edward Pellew.〔 Pellew was a highly experienced officer who had been commended for his service in the American Revolutionary War, during which he fought at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, as an engineering officer at the Battle of Saratoga and later in European waters in command of a frigate.〔Woodman, p. 21〕 He was accompanied on board ''Nymphe'' by his younger brother Commander Israel Pellew, who was at the time an unemployed reserve officer enlisted as a volunteer aboard his brother's ship.〔
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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