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The Action of 7 May 1794 was a minor naval action fought between a British ship of the line and a French frigate early in the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Navy sought to disrupt British trade by intercepting and capturing merchant ships with roving frigates, a strategy countered by protecting British convoys with heavier warships, particularly in European waters. On 5 May 1794, the British escorts of a convoy from Cork sighted two French ships approaching and gave chase. The ships, a frigate and a corvette, outmatched by their opponents, separated and the convoy escorts did likewise, each following one of the raiders on a separate course. By the evening one of the French ships had successfully escaped, but the other was still under pursuit, Captain Charles Linois of ''Atalante'' attempting a number of tactics to drive off his opponent but without success. Eventually, after a chase lasting nearly two days, the French ship came within range of the much larger British 74-gun third rate HMS ''Swiftsure'' and despite a brave defence was soon forced to surrender after suffering more than 40 casualties. Although he had surrendered his ship, Linois was widely praised for his actions in defending his ship against such heavy odds.〔Linois would later receive extensive criticism for his lack of aggressiveness at the Battle of Pulo Auro when a fleet of East Indiamen would bluff him into breaking off his attack.〕 In the aftermath of the engagement, a French battle squadron that formed part of the developing Atlantic campaign of May 1794 pursued both ships for the rest of the day; their quarry eventually escaped after dark. ''Atalante'' was later taken into the Royal Navy as HMS ''Espion''. ==Background== The outbreak of war between Britain and France in the spring of 1793 came at a time of differing fortunes for the navies of the two countries. The Royal Navy had been at a state of heightened readiness since 1792 in preparation for the conflict, while the French Navy had still not recovered from the upheavals of the French Revolution, which had resulted in the collapse of the naval hierarchy and a dearth of experienced officers and seamen.〔Woodman, p. 19〕 French naval strategy early in the war was to send squadrons and light vessels to operate along British trade routes, in order to disrupt British mercantile operations. This resulted in Britain forming its merchant ships into convoys for mutual protection, escorted by warships while in European waters to defend against roving attacks by French ships.〔Woodman, p. 8〕 By the spring of 1794, France was in turmoil following the failure of the harvest, which threatened the country with starvation. In order to secure food supplies, France turned to its American colonies and the United States, which assembled a large grain convoy in Hampton Roads.〔Mostert, p. 132〕 To ensure the security of this convoy, the French Navy dispatched most of its Atlantic Fleet to sea during May 1794, operating in a series of large squadrons, independent cruisers and one major fleet under Villaret de Joyeuse.〔Mostert, p. 133〕 On 5 May, two French ships operating independently, the 36-gun frigate ''Atalante'' under Captain Charles Linois and the corvette ''Levrette'', spied a British convoy sailing south-west, three days out from Cork, and closed to investigate.〔Woodman, p. 41〕 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 7 May 1794」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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