Action of 7 May 1794

Part of the French Revolutionary Wars

Date	5 May 1794
Location	Western Approaches, Atlantic Ocean
Result	British victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

French Republic

Commanders and leaders

Captain Charles Boyles

Captain Charles Linois

Strength

Ships of the line HMS Swiftsure and HMS St Albans

Frigate Atalante and corvette Levrette

Casualties and losses

1 killed

10 killed, 32 wounded, Atalante captured

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.

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.

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. 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.

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Wikipedia