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The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars. French naval forces had been blockaded in their harbours during the conflict, and often the only method of attacking them was through fireships or "cutting-out" expeditions, in which boats would carry boarding parties into the harbour at night, seize ships at anchor and bring them out. The attack on Dunkirk was a combination of both of these types of operation, aimed at a powerful French frigate squadron at anchor in Dunkirk harbour. The assault made use of a variety of experimental weaponry, some of which was tested in combat for the first time with mixed success. Although assault by the heavily armed sloop HMS ''Dart'' proved successful, the fireships achieved little and various other British craft involved in the operation had little effect on the eventual outcome. The French response was disorganised and ineffectual, losing one frigate captured. Three others were almost destroyed, only escaping by cutting their anchor cables and fleeing into the coastal shoals where they ran aground. Although all three frigates were refloated and returned to service, the operation had cost the French heavy casualties. The British force suffered minimal losses, although the exact totals are uncertain. Many of the British officers involved were highly praised and rewarded with promotions and prize money. ==Background== By the late French Revolutionary Wars (1793–1802), a string of victories at sea ensured that the Royal Navy was dominant. The French Navy in particular had suffered heavy losses, and in Northern European waters had been forced back into its own harbours by British blockade squadrons.〔Gardiner, p. 136〕 Although large ports were watched by fleets of ships of the line, small ports had their own blockade squadrons too, including the shallow French ports on the English Channel. These harbours could not accommodate ships of the line but were well situated for frigates that attacked shipping in British waters whenever they could escape the blockade. One such port was Dunkirk in French Flanders, which contained a squadron of four French frigates: the 44-gun ''Poursuivante'' under Commodore Jean-Joseph Castagnier, the 40-gun ''Carmagnole'' and the 36-gun ''Désirée'' and ''Incorruptible''. Dunkirk was well defended, with gun batteries and gunboats overlooking the harbour. In addition, the port was surrounded by complicated coastal shoals into which the frigates could retreat if attacked.〔Clowes, p. 531〕 The port was closely watched, it was determined that an attack by a squadron of smaller vessels on the frigates stood a chance of success and a number of ships were instructed to gather off the coast. Captain Henry Inman of the frigate HMS ''Andromeda'', had overall command; the force included HMS ''Nemesis'' under Captain Thomas Baker and 15 smaller vessels.〔 The small craft included four fireships, small brigs designed to operate as minor warships until such time as they were deemed expendable in an attack on an anchored target, and the sloop HMS ''Dart'' under Commander Patrick Campbell. ''Dart'' was a highly unusual ship: her size meant that she was unrated even though her armament included 30 32-pounder carronades. The carronades were mounted to a new design that minimised recoil and made them faster and easier to load.〔James, p. 42〕 The squadron had assembled by 17 June 1800, but for ten days the winds and tides prevented the operation.〔James, p. 41〕 The French prepared for any attack by anchoring their frigates in a line running across the harbour from east to west, supported by gunboats that patrolled the harbour. The western-most ships were positioned so that they could make their escape into the channels of the Braak Sands if they came under concerted attack. Inman knew that his largest ships, ''Andromeda'' and ''Nemesis'', would prove liabilities in the narrow harbour. Both remained offshore, their crews dispersed into the smaller ships that would lead the attack, including the fireships HMS ''Wasp'', HMS ''Falcon'', HMS ''Comet'' and HMS ''Rosario'', the brigs HMS ''Biter'' and HMS ''Boxer'', and the hired ships ''Kent'', ''Ann'' and ''Vigilant'' (on which Inman sailed). The entire squadron was led by ''Dart'', under Campbell, whose target was the eastern end of the French line, the frigate ''Désirée''.〔 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「Raid on Dunkirk (1800)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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