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The Action of 6 November 1794 (Known in French as the ''Combat du 16 Brumaire an III'') was a naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars. Two British ships of the line, HMS ''Alexander'' and HMS ''Canada'' were intercepted while returning to Britain through the Celtic Sea by a large French squadron. The French squadron had sailed from Brest in search of an inward bound British convoy in October, but instead encountered the two British ships returning from escorting an outward-bound convoy. There had been no warning of the French approach as the British force assigned to watch Brest was absent at Plymouth due to the policy of operating a distant blockade. The British ships separated and attempted to escape, but the French commander ''Contre-amiral'' Joseph-Marie Nielly simply split his forces in response, and although ''Canada'' was eventually able to outrun pursuit, ''Alexander'' was slower and was caught by several French ships in succession. The first two opponents were driven off, but the third succeeded in coming alongside and, in a fierce and close fought duel, compelled Captain Richard Rodney Bligh to surrender his ship in the face of overwhelming odds. The battle was a rare French victory, lying between the significant British victories at the Glorious First of June and the Battle of Groix, in the Royal Navy campaign against the French fleet at Brest. ==Background== In February 1793, following years of rising tension, the French Republic that had emerged from the French Revolution declared war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.〔Woodman, p. 2〕 For the Royal Navy one of the most immediate concerns was to contain the French Atlantic Fleet based in the massively fortified harbour at Brest in Brittany. This port was ideally positioned to disrupt the merchant shipping convoys that passed through the Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay ''en route'' to Britain from all over the world, and it was therefore imperative that the French fleet was not permitted to put to sea without being challenged. For the French, Brest was a vital port for the receipt of grain supplies from the Americas and so French fleets regularly sailed on missions to escort these convoys into the harbour and to disrupt British convoys entering the English Channel.〔Woodman, p. 7〕〔Gardiner, p. 27〕 In May 1794, a large French fleet put to sea to ensure the safety of an American grain convoy and was intercepted far out in the Atlantic at the Glorious First of June by the British Channel Fleet, the most powerful of the Royal Navy's fleets and the force assigned to restrict French movements from Brest. The French suffered a serious defeat, losing seven ships, but managed to retire in good order and saved the grain convoy.〔Gardiner, p. 39〕 Later in June 1794 the British Fleet again put to sea, but was caught in a storm and many ships were badly damaged. Its commander Lord Howe retired with his fleet to the anchorage in Torbay and thus there was no British fleet at sea in late October when a powerful French squadron sailed from Brest with the intention of attacking a large merchant convoy sailing from Lisbon to Britain.〔 The force, under the command of ''Contre-amiral'' Joseph-Marie Nielly, consisted of the 74-gun ships of the line ''Marat'', ''Tigre'', ''Droits de l'Homme'', ''Pelletier'' and ''Jean-Bart'' with the frigates ''Charente'', ''Fraternité'', ''Gentille'' and the corvette ''Papillon''.〔James, p. 183〕 In addition to the Lisbon convoy, a number of other vulnerable British targets were in the region, including a second convoy from the Mediterranean Sea under Rear-Admiral Philip Cosby ''en route'' to Britain and the first-rate HMS ''Victory'', which was sailing independently with Lord Hood on board.〔Tracy, p. 114〕 Nielly had information concerning these movements, and was cruising in a pattern that was intended to cover the Western approaches to the English Channel. The French force cruised in the Celtic Sea for several days, until on 6 November at 02:30 two unidentified ships were spotted on the northeastern horizon. These vessels were the British 74-gun ships of the line HMS ''Alexander'' under Captain Richard Rodney Bligh and HMS ''Canada'' under Captain Charles Powell Hamilton, returning northeastwards to rejoin the Channel Fleet after escorting a Lisbon and Mediterranean bound convoy to a safe latitude.〔Clowes, p. 241〕 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 6 November 1794」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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