Battle of Sadras

Detail from a 1794 map showing southern India.
Sadras is south of Madras on the east coast.

Date	17 February 1782
Location	Bay of Bengal, off the coast from present-day Kalpakkam 12°31′24.23″N 80°10′36.66″E / 12.5233972°N 80.1768500°E / 12.5233972; 80.1768500Coordinates: 12°31′24.23″N 80°10′36.66″E / 12.5233972°N 80.1768500°E / 12.5233972; 80.1768500
Result	French victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

France

Commanders and leaders

Sir Edward Hughes

Bailli de Suffren

Strength

9 ships of the line

11 ships of the line

Casualties and losses

32 killed, 83 wounded

30 killed, about 100 wounded

The Battle of Sadras was the first of five largely indecisive naval battles fought between a British fleet (under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes) and a French fleet (under the Bailli de Suffren) off the east coast of India during the Anglo-French War. Fought on 17 February 1782 near present-day Kalpakkam, the battle was tactically indecisive, but the British fleet suffered the most damage. Under Suffren's protection, French troop transports were able to land at Porto Novo.

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 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.

The French admiral Bailli de Suffren was dispatched for military assistance to French colonies in India, leading a fleet of five ships of the line, seven transports, and a corvette to escort transports from Brest in March 1781. Suffren was involved in a happenstance battle with a British fleet at Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands in April. In October, he left reinforcement troops at the Dutch-controlled Cape of Good Hope to assist with colonial defense. Suffren added some ships to his fleet and sailed on to Île de France, arriving at Port Louis in December.

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Wikipedia