| 翻訳と辞書 |
| Action of 5 May 1794 ： ウィキペディア英語版 |
Action of 5 May 1794
The Action of 5 May 1794 was a minor naval engagement fought in the Indian Ocean during the French Revolutionary Wars. A British squadron had been blockading the French island of Isle de France (now Mauritius) since early in the year, and early on 5 May discovered two ships approaching their position. As the strange vessels came closer, they were recognised as the French frigate ''Duguay Trouin'', which had been captured from the East India Company the year before, and a small brig. Making use of a favourable wind, the British squadron gave chase to the new arrivals, which fled. The chase was short, as ''Duguay Trouin'' was a poor sailor with many of the crew sick and unable to report for duty. The British frigate HMS ''Orpheus'' was the first to arrive, and soon completely disabled the French frigate, successfully raking the wallowing ship. After an hour and twenty minutes the French captain surrendered, Captain Henry Newcome of ''Orpheus'' taking over the captured ship and bringing his prize back to port in India.
==Background==
Britain joined the French Revolutionary Wars in February 1793, but the news did not reach the Indian Ocean for four months. The immediate priority of the British squadron under Commodore William Cornwallis in British India was the capture of the French colonies in India, especially their main port of Pondicherry. Once the British had completed this operation at the end of August 1793, the squadron returned to Europe.〔 This left British commerce in Eastern waters badly exposed, and privateers and warships operating from Isle de France captured a number of merchant vessels, including the large East Indiaman ''Princess Royal'', which three privateer corvettes seized on 27 September in the Sunda Strait.〔James, p. 196.〕
''Princess Royal'' was a well-armed ship, carrying twenty-six 12-pounder cannon and a number of smaller calibre guns on the maindeck. The French Navy immediately took her into service as the 34-gun frigate ''Duguay Trouin'' and attached her to the Isle de France squadron of the frigates ''Prudente'' and ''Cybèle'', and the brig ''Vulcain'' under Captain Jean-Marie Renaud.〔James, p. 198.〕 This force skirmished inconclusively with a squadron of East India Company ships in the Sunda Strait in January 1794, before returning to Isle de France with the captured East Indiaman ''Pigot''.〔James, p. 199〕
By the early spring of 1794, three vessels had come out from Britain - 32-gun frigate under Captain Henry Newcome, the 50-gun fifth rate under Captain Samuel Osbourne, and the 44-gun under Captain Edward Pakenham to replace Cornwallis's squadron. These ships passed the French bases on Isle de France ''en route'' to India, and briefly blockaded the port with some success against French merchant vessels: ''Orpheus'' alone sent three officers and twenty men to India in captured merchant ships.〔 The French too had ships at sea during this period, ''Duguay Trouin'' and ''Vulcain'' cruising together in the Indian Ocean during the spring before returning to Isle de France.〔
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 5 May 1794」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|