Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne

Date	23 February 1809
Location	Les Sables-d'Olonne, France
Result	Indecisive

Belligerents

France

United Kingdom

Commanders and leaders

Pierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière

Robert Stopford

Strength

Italienne (40)
Calypso (40)
Cybèle (40)

Coastal forts

HMS Caesar (80)
HMS Defiance (74)
HMS Donegal (74)
HMS Amelia (38)

HMS Dotterel (18)

Casualties and losses

64 killed and 47 wounded

Italienne (40)
Calypso (40)
Cybèle (40)

HMS Caesar (80)
HMS Defiance (74)
HMS Donegal (74)
HMS Amelia (38)

The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a limited frigate action that took place on 23 February 1809 off Les Sables-d'Olonne. Three ships of the line and two attached ships of the British squadron blockading the harbours of the Atlantic coast engaged a small French frigate squadron comprising Calypso (40), Cybèle (40) and Italienne (40). The French managed to repel the British attack but at the cost of irreparable damage leading to the subsequent decommissioning of the three frigates involved.

In February 1809, two British squadrons, each counting four ships of the line and several frigates, blockaded Lorient and Île d'Aix. In Lorient they had trapped a strong frigate squadron under captain Amable Troude that comprised the heavy 40-gun frigates Cybèle, Italienne and Calypso.

The French conceived a plan by which a squadron from Brest, under rear Admiral Willaumez, would sail to Lorient. It would then engage the blockading ships and distract them while Troude's squadron would set sail and make its junction with Willaumez' forces.

Willaumez departed Brest on 21 February 1809, leading a squadron of eight ships of the line and two frigates. They arrived off Lorient at nightfall. However, calms prevented the Lorient squadron from weighing anchor and the Brest squadron had left when Cybèle, Italienne and Calypso finally left harbour, under captain de La Gravière. They headed towards Rochefort in the hope of making their junction with Willaumez and Bergeret.

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Wikipedia