Action of 22 may 1812

Action of 22 May 1812

Destruction of the French Frigates Arianne & Andromaque 22nd May 1812. Nineteenth century British school, after Thomas Whitcombe
The image shows the last stages of the Action of 22 May 1812. From left to right: Mameluck, Ariane, Andromaque and Northumberland.

Date	22 May 1812
Location	Penmarch
Result	British victory

Belligerents

France

Great Britain

Commanders and leaders

Captain Jean-Baptiste-Henri Féretier
Captain Nicolas Morice
Captain Galabert

Captain Henry Hotham
Lieutenant John Weeks

Strength

2 40-gun frigates

1 16-gun brig

1 74-gun ship of the line

1 12-gun brig

Casualties and losses

2 frigates destroyed

5 killed, 28 wounded.

2 40-gun frigates

1 74-gun ship of the line

The Action of 22 May 1812 took place off Groix when a small French two-frigate squadron comprising Ariane and Andromaque, returning from a commerce raiding campaign in the Atlantic, met the 74-gun HMS Northumberland while trying the slip to Lorient through the British blockade.

After a gunnery exchange that left all ships damaged, the frigates attempted to lose the ship of the line by sailing through a shallow pass, but they ran aground. Northumberland, her repairs completed, returned to the scene and bombarded Andromaque until her rigging caught fire, setting the entire ship ablaze. Unable to refloat herself and trapped by Northumberland, Ariane was scuttled by fire by her crew, and the French evacuated on the brig Mameluck.

Captains Jean-Baptiste-Henri Féretier and Nicolas Morice were found guilty of negligence in the loss of their ships, and forbidden from commanding for three years.

By 1812, the Royal Navy enjoyed an absolute supremacy on all seas, and even blockaded French harbours, preventing French squadrons from leaving and conducting naval operations of significance. The French Navy was thus forced into commerce raiding: small frigate squadrons (usually just a pair of frigates) would attempt to slip through the blockade and roam the seas, patrolling to capture lightly armed merchantmen.

On 9 January 1812, a French frigate squadron left Nantes to attack British and American shipping in the Atlantic, off the Azores and Bermuda. The squadron comprised the two 18-pounder 40-gun frigates Ariane and Andromaque, under Captains Jean-Baptiste-Henri Féretier and Nicolas Morice respectively, and the 16-gun brig Mameluck, under Captain Galabert. Feretier was the commanding officer of the squadron.

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Wikipedia