Hubert Le Loup de Beaulieu

Hubert Le Loup de Beaulieu, often written Beaulieu-Leloup, ( ? — Forte, Gulf of Bengal, 1 March 1799) was a French Navy officer. He was a cousin to Louis Garneray.

He served as second ensign on the East Indiaman Comte de Provence from 1763 to 1764, and as first enseign on the chartered corvette Sage armed for Mauritius on 1 May 1766.

In 1776, he commanded the merchantman Carnate for a journey from Indian to China.

In 1796, Beaulieu-Leloup served in the Navy in Rochefort with the rank of Commander. He commanded the frigate Forte in Sercey's squadron.

In September 1797, Sercey had him relieved of his command and he was replaced by Captain Ravenel, but reinstated on the insistence of Mauritius governor Malartic, who caved in to pressure from the Colonial Assembly and sent Prudente and Forte to engage in independent commerce raiding off Bengal, disturbing Sercey's plans. Sercey was furious, and wrote to the Ministry of the Navy:

On 24 February 1799, Forte engaged the East Indiaman Osterley. After the battle, Beaulieu-Leloup, deeming the fire from Forte to strike too low, ordered her guns raised by diminishing their quoins by 2.7 cm.

In the evening of 27 February 1799, she captured the East Indiamen Endeavour and Lord Mornington; unbeknownst to Beaulieu-Leloup, the flashes of the battle were spotted by the 38-gun HMS Sybille, under Captain Edward Cooke, which closed in to investigate. She was spotted by the officers of Forte and identified as a British frigate, but Beaulieu-Leloup insisted that she was another East Indiaman and sent his crew to sleep for the night. It was only when Sybille's intent to intercept became evident that Beaulieu-Leloup called to battle stations; even then, he closed in and ordered a restrained attack, firing his guns one by one to test his opponent.

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