César-Joseph Bourayne
| César-Joseph de Bourayne | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
22 February 1768 Brest, France |
| Died | 5 November 1817 (aged 49) Brest, France |
| Allegiance |
 Royaume de France |
| Years of service | 1781-1814 |
| Rank | Contre-Amiral des Armées Navales |
| Battles/wars |
|
César-Joseph de Bourayne, later Baron Bourayne, (22 February 1768 – 5 November 1817) was a French naval officer, famous for his battles against British ships in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. He was appointed Rear-admiral in 1814, having been made a Baron in 1811.
A street in Brest bears his name, as does a bay and port of the island of Huahine in French Polynesia.
Born in Brest on 22 February 1768, Caesar Bourayne was the 5th child of a family of 13, including two naval officers and two navy commissioners, which earned their mother the nickname "the mother to the seamen”. In 1781, at 13 years old, he embarked on the 80-gun ship of the line Auguste, commanded by the famous captain Louis Antoine de Bougainville. Auguste was part of the fleet of the Comte de Grasse, which operated in the Atlantic against the British during the American Revolutionary War. He participated in the various actions of this campaign including the critical victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake, and the decisive defeat at The Battle of the Saintes. In the 10 years that followed, he continued his training in many engagements in the Caribbean, Africa, Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.
In 1791, Bourayne was commissioned as an officer and served aboard the 38-gun frigate Venus during the scientific expedition of Rosily. In August 1792 he was commissioned as an officer serving on the frigate Méduse.
By 1793 he had been promoted to lieutenant and served under Charles Linois on the 36-gun frigate Atalante. On 7 May 1794, while hunting for British merchantmen off the coast of Ireland, Atalante and accompanying corvette Levrette came across a convoy protected by two British ships of the line, Swiftsure and St Albans. The British ships moved to intercept, and though Levrette escaped, Atalante was taken after a 48-hour chase. Bourayne was wounded in the action of 7 May 1794 and taken prisoner. He was paroled in the Bantry Bay area for 19 months before he was returned to France in October 1795.
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