Action of 4 September 1782

Part of the American Revolutionary War

Date	4 September 1782
Location	off Île de Batz, France
Result	British victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

France

Commanders and leaders

Captain Henry Trollope

Capitaine Chevalier de Vigny

Strength

1 frigate HMS Rainbow

1 frigate Hébé

Casualties and losses

1 killed & 2 wounded

1 frigate captured
5 killed, 7 wounded & 360 captured

The Action of 4 September 1782 was a small naval engagement which was fought off the Île de Batz between a French naval frigate Hébé and a Royal Naval frigate HMS Rainbow. This battle was notable as the first proper use of a carronade and so effective was this weapon that the French commander promptly surrendered just after the first broadside.

On 4 September the 44 gun frigate HMS Rainbow under Captain Henry Trollope armed entirely with carronades was off the French coast near the Île de Batz when a frigate was sighted. Having then chased the vessel it turned to be a French frigate Hébé . Hébé of 1,063 tons was a new ship of the class of the same name whose armament consisted of 38 guns, twenty six of which were 18-pounder long guns. It was commanded by Joseph Pierre de Vigny (who would become uncle of Alfred de Vigny) and had on board 360 men. Hébé had left Saint-Malo on 3 September and was heading to Brest escorting a small convoy.

At 7 am, having arrived within gunshot of the French ship, the Rainbow commenced firing 32-pounder chase guns from the forecastle, which were returned by the frigate. One thirty-two pound ball shot away Hébé's wheel and killed her second captain. Vigny examined the fragments of the hollow carronade shot and concluded that if she was firing 32-pounders as chase pieces she was actually a ship of the line in disguise.

The foremast of the frigate was then seriously damaged and another man killed. An hour and a half later the ships manoeuvred for position but before Captain Trollope could get alongside and fire a single broadside, de Vigny fired his four of five most rear port guns "pour l'honneur du pavillon” (the honour of the flag) and struck his colours. The surrender of Hébé was probably unavoidable, taking into consideration the advantage provided by the unusual armament of the Rainbow., but the celerity with which de Vigny struck his colours has made some historian think that he was actually suffering from major depressive disorder.

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Wikipedia