Battle of the Basque Roads

Destruction of the French Fleet in Basque Roads by Thomas Sutherland after a painting by Thomas Whitcombe, 1817

Date	11–25 April 1809
Location	Île-d'Aix, France
Result	British victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

France

Commanders and leaders

James Gambier

Lord Cochrane

Zacharie Allemand

Strength

11 ships of the line, 7 frigates, 4 brig-sloops, 2 bomb vessels, 6 brigs, 1 schooner, 2 cutters, 3 Congreve rocket barges

11 ships of the line, 4 frigates

Casualties and losses

4 ships of the line, 1 frigate

The Battle of the Basque Roads, also Battle of Aix Roads (French: Bataille de l'île d'Aix, also Affaire des brûlots, rarely Bataille de la rade des Basques) was a naval battle during the Napoleonic Wars off the Island of Aix. On the night of 11 April 1809 Captain Lord Cochrane led a British fireship attack against a powerful French force anchored in the Basque Roads. In the attack all but two of the French ships were driven ashore. The subsequent engagement lasted three days but failed to destroy the entire French fleet.

Cochrane accused the British commanding officer, Admiral James Gambier, of being reluctant to press the attack. Gambier demanded a court-martial, and was duly exonerated; Cochrane's career in the Royal Navy ended. The French Navy continued to operate against the British from the Basque Roads until the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

The Basque Roads are a sheltered bay on the Biscay shore of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north. The port of La Rochelle stands at the northeast corner of the roads, and the naval base of Rochefort is near the mouth of the Charente River to the south.

During the Peninsular War in Spain and Portugal the Duke of Wellington depended on maritime supply. The French fleet in the Basque Roads operated against the British supply ships. To protect the convoys, the Royal Navy maintained a blockade of the Basque Roads, but this was expensive and never wholly effective.

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