Raid on Dunkirk (1800)

Raid on Dunkirk
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Capture of La Degirée (sic) Thomas Whitcombe, 1816
Date 7 July 1800 Location Dunkirk, northern coast of France 51°03′25″N 02°21′09″E / 51.05694°N 2.35250°E / 51.05694; 2.35250Coordinates: 51°03′25″N 02°21′09″E / 51.05694°N 2.35250°E / 51.05694; 2.35250 Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
Captain Henry Inman	Commodore Jean-Joseph Castagnier
Strength
Frigates HMS Andromeda, HMS Nemesis, sloop HMS Dart and various small craft.	Frigates Poursuivante, Carmagnole, Désirée and Incorruptible. Supported by shore defences and small craft.
Casualties and losses
1 killed 17 wounded 4 fireships burnt	100 killed or wounded 1 frigate captured

The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars. French naval forces had been blockaded in their harbours during the conflict, and often the only method of attacking them was through fireships or "cutting-out" expeditions, in which boats would carry boarding parties into the harbour at night, seize ships at anchor and bring them out. The attack on Dunkirk was a combination of both of these types of operation, aimed at a powerful French frigate squadron at anchor in Dunkirk harbour. The assault made use of a variety of experimental weaponry, some of which was tested in combat for the first time with mixed success.

Although assault by the heavily armed sloop HMS Dart proved successful, the fireships achieved little and various other British craft involved in the operation had little effect on the eventual outcome. The French response was disorganised and ineffectual, losing one frigate captured. Three others were almost destroyed, only escaping by cutting their anchor cables and fleeing into the coastal shoals where they ran aground. Although all three frigates were refloated and returned to service, the operation had cost the French heavy casualties. The British force suffered minimal losses, although the exact totals are uncertain. Many of the British officers involved were highly praised and rewarded with promotions and prize money.

By the late French Revolutionary Wars (1793–1802), a string of victories at sea ensured that the Royal Navy was dominant. The French Navy in particular had suffered heavy losses, and in Northern European waters had been forced back into its own harbours by British blockade squadrons. Although large ports were watched by fleets of ships of the line, small ports had their own blockade squadrons too, including the shallow French ports on the English Channel. These harbours could not accommodate ships of the line but were well situated for frigates that attacked shipping in British waters whenever they could escape the blockade. One such port was Dunkirk in French Flanders, which contained a squadron of four French frigates: the 44-gun Poursuivante under Commodore Jean-Joseph Castagnier, the 40-gun Carmagnole and the 36-gun Désirée and Incorruptible. Dunkirk was well defended, with gun batteries and gunboats overlooking the harbour. In addition, the port was surrounded by complicated coastal shoals into which the frigates could retreat if attacked.

...
Wikipedia