Flottille de Boulogne

The Flottille de Boulogne was a large fleet of small gunboats, brigs and barges built in Boulogne on the orders of First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte from 1801. It was a key component of Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom.

At the Battle of Svensksund, the Swedes broke the naval stalemate with their Russian opponents and won a spectacular victory by engaging the Archipelago fleet, a flotilla of galleys, prams and gunboats. With the French Navy weakened by the Glorious First of June, a strategic victory with a crushing tactical cost, and incapable of challenging the Royal Navy head-on since the Croisière du Grand Hiver, the concept of a rush across the English Channel to invade England gained traction.

The plans of the ships designed by Chapman were transmitted to Forfait by JJ.Muskeyn in 1796.

On 10 October 1794, the Committee of Public Safety created a first draft of the flotilla. On 25 December 1797, the French Directory appointed General Napoléon Bonaparte to the head of the Armée d'Angleterre.

In a decree of 12 July 1801, the flotilla was organised into nine divisions. It comprised several types of ship:

In the summer, the British under Horatio Nelson launched a series of Raids on Boulogne, with a first attempt on 4 August, and another on 15–16. French admiral Latouche-Tréville organised a successful defence that derailed the attacks.

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