Battle of Negapatam (1782)

Battle of Negapatam
Part of the Anglo-French War
Depiction of the battle by Dominic Serres
Date 6 July 1782 Location Bay of Bengal, off Negapatam 10°46′40.8″N 79°51′58.11″E / 10.778000°N 79.8661417°E / 10.778000; 79.8661417Coordinates: 10°46′40.8″N 79°51′58.11″E / 10.778000°N 79.8661417°E / 10.778000; 79.8661417 Result Tactically indecisive British strategic victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
Sir Edward Hughes	Bailli de Suffren
Strength
11 ships of the line	11 ships of the line
Casualties and losses
77 killed, 233 wounded	178 killed, 601 wounded

The Battle of Negapatam was the third in the series of battles fought between a British fleet, under Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and a French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India during the Anglo-French War. The battle was fought on 6 July 1782. The battle was indecisive but Suffren was thwarted in his goal by Hughes and withdrew to Cuddalore, while the British remained in control of Negapatam.

France had entered the American Revolutionary War in 1778, and Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in late 1780, after the Dutch refused to stop trading in military supplies with the French and the Americans. The British had rapidly gained control over most French and Dutch outposts in India when news of these events reached India, spawning the Second Anglo-Mysore War in the process. Negapatam was sieged and taken by Sir Hector Munro in November 1781.

The French admiral the Bailli de Suffren was dispatched on a mission to provide military assistance to French colonies in India. He arrived in February 1782, and immediately engaged the British fleet of Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes in the inconclusive Battle of Sadras. After both fleets spent time in port repairing, refitting, and re-provisioning, they met again in the April Battle of Providien, south of the Ceylonese port of Trincomalee, that was ended by a storm and then nightfall. Hughes put into Trincomalee, a formerly Dutch port the British had captured in January, for repairs, while Suffren went to the Dutch-controlled port of Batticaloa.

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