The Battle of Fort Royal was a naval battle fought off Fort Royal, Martinique in the West Indies during the Anglo-French War on 29 April 1781, between fleets of the British Royal Navy and the French Navy. After an engagement lasting four hours, the British squadron under Admiral Samuel Hood broke off and retreated. Admiral de Grasse offered a desultory chase before seeing the French convoys safe to port.
Background In March 1781, a large French fleet under the command of Grasse left the port of Brest. Most of this fleet was headed for the West Indies. Of the 26 ships of the line, one was sent to North America, and five, under the command of the Suffren, were destined for India. The remaining twenty arrived off to Martinique on 28 April.
On 17 April, Grasse had detached a cutter which arrived at Martinique on 26 to inform Bouillé of his arrival. Before sailing to the lee (western) side of the island, Grasse anchored the fleet and sent someone ashore to gather news and bring orders to Albert de Saint-Hippolyte, commander of a 4-ship division that a British fleet of 17 ships of the line under Samuel Hood had been blockading at Fort Royal for 50 days. The division comprised the 74-gun Victoire, under Saint-Hippolyte, and the 64-gun Caton, under Framond, Réfléchi, under Cillart de Suville, and Solitaire, under Cicé-Champion.
Hood was under orders from the fleet's station commander, Admiral George Brydges Rodney, to maintain the blockade of the port on the lee side, despite his protests that this would put him at a disadvantage should any other fleet arrive. Though disadvantaged by his position and his inferior firepower, the fact that all of his ships had copper bottoms, which required little maintenance compared to the alternative, and that he was not burdened with the responsibility of escorting a convoy both allowed him to focus his efforts on maintaining the blockade.
Battle Grasse ordered his fleet to prepare for action on the morning of 29 April, and sailed for Fort Royal with the convoy ships hugging the coast and the armed ships in battle line. The French spotted Hood's fleet bearing towards them around 0800, but Grasse held the advantageous weather gauge from an East-North-East wind. At about 0920, Hood was joined by the Prince William, a 64-gun ship that had been at St. Lucia.
The two fleets continued to push for advantageous positions, however Hood's leeward position meant he was unable to prevent Grasse from bringing the convoy to the harbour, and Grasse's fleet and the four blockaded ships soon met. Around 1100, Grasse's van began firing at long range, with no effect. Saint-Hippolyte's division then set sail, leaving the harbour of Fort-Royal and making their junction with Grasse.
By 1230 the two fleets were aligned, but Grasse refused to take advantage of the weather gauge to close with Hood, despite Hood's efforts to bring the French to him, as doing so entailed risking his transports. The fleets then exchanged cannonades and broadsides for the next hour; at long range, the damage incurred was modest, although , Russell and required repairs. Centaur had her captain, first officer and 10 others killed, and 26 wounded. The French suffered mostly light damage to their rigging.
From 1400, the French convoy slipped between the coast and Grasse's squadron, safely arriving at Martinique.
Hood finally drew away toward Saint Lucia. On 30, Grasse, having successfully completed his convoy escort, was free to give chase, and he harassed the British for a couple of days, but Hood refused to be brought to action. In the chase, the disparity of sailing performance between the French ships scattered Grasse's squadron, to the point that by 1 May, Grasse had only 11 ships with him and was losing sight of the last ones. He then returned to Fort-Royal, where he arrived on 6 May.
Aftermath Hood dispatched Russell, which had been holed below the waterline to St. Eustatius for repairs, and to bring news of the action to Admiral Rodney. Hood spent the next day in fruitless attempts to gain the windward and eventually made sail to the North. He met Rodney on 11 May between St. Kitts and Antigua, the latter having left Saint Eustatius on 5 May. Reports of French casualties vary from as few as 74 killed and wounded to more than 250.
Order of battle French fleet Admiral de Grasse's fleet Division Ship Guns Commander Casualties Notes Killed Wounded TotalBlue-and-White squadron, under Bougainville 3rdDivision Languedoc 80 Jean-François d'Arros d'Argelos Division flagship Citoyen 74 Alexandre de Thy 1stDivision Glorieux 74 Jacques François de Pérusse des Cars Auguste 80 Louis Antoine de Bougainville (Chef d'escadre) Pierre-Joseph de Castellan (flag captain) Division and Squadron flagship 2ndDivision Souverain 74 Jean-Baptiste de Glandevès du Castellet Diadème 74 Louis Augustin de Monteclerc Signals Médée 32-gun frigate Chevalier de Girardin White squadron, under Grasse 3rdDivision Zélé 74 Charles-René de Gras-Préville Scipion 74 Antoine Pierre de Clavel 1stDivision Northumberland 74 Bon Chrétien de Briqueville Ville de Paris 104 François Joseph Paul de Grasse (Lieutenant général)Pierre de Vaugiraud (Major general)Antoine Cresp (flag captain) Division, Squadron and Fleet flagship Sceptre 74 Louis de Rigaud de Vaudreuil 2nd Division Hector 74 Laurent-Emmanuel de Renaud d'Aleins Magnanime 74 Jean Antoine Le Bègue de Germiny Signals Diligente 26-gun frigate Victurnien-Henri-Elzéar de Rochechouart de Mortemart Pandour 18-gun cutter Étienne Marc Antoine Joseph de Grasse-LimermontBlue squadron, under Chabert 3rd Division Bourgogne 74 Charles de Charritte Vaillant 64 Augustin Etienne Gaspard Bernard de Marigny 1stDivision Marseillais 74 Henri-César de Castellane-Majastre César 74 Charles Régis de Coriolis d'Espinouse Saint-Esprit 80 Joseph-Bernard de Chabert-Cogolin Division and Squadron flagship 2nd Division Hercule 74 Jean-Baptiste Turpin du Breuil Pluton 74 François Hector d'Albert de Rions Signals Aigrette 26-gun frigate Jean-Baptiste Prévost de Sansac de Traversay Alerte 18-gun cutter Gallien de Chabons
Saint-Hippolyte's division Division Ship Guns Commander Casualties Notes Killed Wounded Total Victoire 74 Joseph François Auguste Jules d'Albert de Saint-Hippolyte Division flagship Caton 64 Georges-François de Framond Réfléchi 64 Armand-François Cillart de Suville Solitaire 64 Louis-Toussaint Champion de Cicé
British fleet British order of battle as provided by Clowes, p. 482. , 74, Captain William Bayne , 64, Captain James Brine , 74, Captain Charles Thompson , 74, Captain Sir Richard Bickerton , 74, Captain Francis Reynolds , 90, Captain John Knight, Rear-Admiral Samuel Hood , 74, Captain James Ferguson , 70, Captain Sir Thomas Rich , 74, Captain John Symons , 74, Captain Lord Robert Manners , 74, Captain John Houlton , 80, Captain Charles Knatchbull, Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Samuel Drake , 74, Captain John Neale Pleydell Nott , 64, Captain Stair Douglas Torbay, 74, Captain John Lewis Gidoin , 64, Captain Anthony James Pye Molloy , 74, Captain Mark Robinson
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