Bombardment of Mogador
| Bombardment of Mogador | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the First Franco-Moroccan War | |||||||
 The attack of Mogador by the French fleet, Serkis Diranian. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 France
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 Morocco
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Prince de Joinville | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 15 warships | 400-500 Imperial troops 120 cannons |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| No ships lost. 78 dead and wounded (14+ KIA) | |||||||
The Bombardment of Mogador took place in August 1844, when French Navy forces under the Prince de Joinville attacked the Moroccan city of Mogador, modern Essaouira, and the island facing the city, Mogador island. The campaign was part of the First Franco-Moroccan War.
The bombardment was a consequence of Morocco's alliance with Algeria's Abd-El-Kader against France. Following several incidents on the border between Algeria and Morocco, and Morocco's refusal to abandon its support of Algeria.
The bombardment of Mogador was preceded by the Bombardment of Tangiers by the same fleet on 6 August 1844, and the Battle of Isly by Maréchal Bugeaud on 14 August 1844.
Mogador was an important harbour, Morocco's first seaport, with consistent relations with Europe. It had about 15,000 inhabitants, 4,000 of whom were Jews, and 50 Christian traders.
The French fleet consisted of 15 ships, including 3 ships of the line (Suffren, Jemmapes and Triton), 3 frigates (Belle Poule, Groenland and Asmodée), 4 bricks (Argus, Volage, Rubis, Cassard), 3 corvettes (Pluton, Cassendi and Vedette), 2 avisos (Phare, Pandour). The fleet included a large proportion of steam paddleships, but most of the firepower came from traditional ships of the line.
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