Jean-Baptiste Cécille

Admiral Jean-Baptiste Cécille
Admiral Jean-Baptiste Cécille (1787–1873)
Born	1787 Rouen
Died	1873
Allegiance	France
Service/branch	French Navy
Rank	Admiral
Battles/wars	Bombardment of Đà Nẵng

Jean-Baptiste Thomas Médée Cécille (16 October 1787, Rouen – 9 November 1873) was a French Admiral and politician who played an important role in Asia.

In 1837–1839, Cécille circumnavigated the world as the commander of the corvette Héroïne. He left Brest on 1 July 1837 with the objective of protecting French whaling ships. He contributed to the survey of New Zealand.

In 1843, the French Foreign Minister François Guizot sent a fleet to Vietnam under Admiral Cécille and Captain Charner, which started the French intervention in Vietnam. The move responded to the successes of the British in China in 1842, and France hoped to counterbalance these successes by accessing China from the south. The pretext however was to support British efforts in China, and to fight the persecution of French missionaries in Vietnam. The fleet, accompanied by the diplomat Théodore de Lagrené, tried to seize the island of Basilan in order to create a base similar to Hong Kong, but projects had to be abandoned following the strong opposition of Spain claiming the island was part of the Philippines.

In 1845 Guizot sent Cécille to Vietnam to obtain the release of a Catholic missionary, Bishop Dominique Lefèbvre.

Two years later, in 1847, when Lefèbvre was recaptured, Cécille sent Captain Lapierre to Danang to obtain the release of the bishop yet again. It is not established if Captain Lapierre knew that Bishop Lefebvre had already been freed and was on his way to Singapore before he started his attack by first dismantling the masts of some Vietnamese ships. Subsequently, on 14 April 1847, the French continued their attack by sinking the remaining five bronze-plated ships in the bay of Danang.