Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800)

Battle of the Malta convoy
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Siege of Malta (1798–1800)
Date 18 February 1800 Location Off the northern shore of Malta Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	French Republic
Commanders and leaders
Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson	Contre-amiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée  †
Strength
Ships of the line HMS Alexander, HMS Foudroyant, HMS Northumberland and frigate HMS Success	74-gun Généreux 20-gun Badine 20-gun Fauvette 16-gun Sans Pareille fluyt Ville de Marseille
Casualties and losses
1 killed, 9 wounded	1 killed, Généreux and one transport captured

The Battle of the Malta Convoy was a naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars fought on 18 February 1800 during the Siege of Malta. The French garrison at the city of Valletta in Malta had been under siege for eighteen months, blockaded on the landward side by a combined force of British, Portuguese and irregular Maltese forces and from the sea by a Royal Navy squadron under the overall command of Lord Nelson from his base at Palermo on Sicily. In February 1800, the Neapolitan government replaced the Portuguese troops with their own forces and the soldiers were convoyed to Malta by Nelson and Lord Keith, arriving on 17 February. The French garrison was by early 1800 suffering from severe food shortages, and in a desperate effort to retain the garrison's effectiveness a convoy was arranged at Toulon, carrying food, armaments and reinforcements for Valletta under Contre-amiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée. On 17 February, the French convoy approached Malta from the southeast, hoping to pass along the shoreline and evade the British blockade squadron.

On 18 February 1800 lookouts on the British ship HMS Alexander sighted the French and gave chase, followed by the rest of Nelson's squadron while Keith remained off Valletta. Although most of the French ships outdistanced the British pursuit, one transport was overhauled and forced to surrender, while Perrée's flagship Généreux was intercepted by the much smaller frigate HMS Success. In the opening exchange of fire, Success was badly damaged but Perrée was mortally wounded. The delay caused by the engagement allowed the main body of the British squadron to catch up the French ship and, badly outnumbered, Généreux surrendered. Perrée died shortly after receiving his wound, and none of the supplies reached Malta, which held out for another seven months against increasing odds before surrendering on 4 September 1800.

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