Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne |
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| Part of the Napoleonic Wars | |||||||
 Battle of Les Sables d'Olonne, Contemporary painting |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |
 France |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Robert Stopford |
Pierre Jurien |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 3 ships of the line 1 frigate 1 sloop |
3 frigates | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 killed 31 wounded |
24 killed 51 wounded 3 frigates damaged beyond repair |
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The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a small sea battle that happened on February 24, 1809. It took place near the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne on the French coast. This battle was part of the bigger Napoleonic Wars.
In this fight, three French frigates (medium-sized warships) faced a larger British group of ships of the line (large, powerful warships). The French ships had left the port of Lorient hoping to meet up with a bigger French fleet. However, they missed their meeting point and were chased by a British group of ships.
The French commander, Commodore Pierre Roch Jurien, tried to protect his ships. He anchored them close to the shore, under the protection of the town's shore batteries (big cannons on land). He hoped this would stop the British from attacking.
But the British commander, Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford, decided to attack anyway. His ships, led by HMS Defiance, began firing at 9:00 AM on February 24. The powerful British ships quickly overwhelmed the French frigates. By noon, all three French ships were badly damaged and had been forced onto the shore. The British won the battle.
Why the Battle Happened
In 1809, the Royal Navy (Britain's navy) was very strong in the Atlantic Ocean. They kept the French navy trapped in their ports along the Bay of Biscay in France. This was called a "blockade." The main French naval base was at Brest, where most of their fleet was anchored. Smaller French groups of ships were at Lorient and Rochefort.
The French wanted to send ships to the Caribbean to protect their colonies there, especially Martinique, which the British planned to invade. In February 1809, the main French fleet from Brest, led by Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, managed to escape the British blockade. This happened because bad winter storms forced the British ships to move further out into the Atlantic.
Willaumez's fleet, with eight ships of the line and two frigates, sailed south on February 22. Only one British ship, HMS Revenge, stayed behind and followed them.
The Chase Begins
Willaumez's fleet soon spotted a smaller British group of ships near Lorient. Willaumez ordered some of his ships to chase the British away. The British ships, HMS Theseus, HMS Triumph, and HMS Valiant, turned and sailed away. After achieving their goal, the French ships rejoined Willaumez and anchored near the island of Groix. This cleared the way to Lorient.
Early on February 23, Willaumez sailed south again toward Rochefort. He sent a small ship, the schooner Magpye, to Lorient with orders for the French ships there to follow him. However, the tide was too low for all the ships at Lorient to leave at once. So, Commodore Pierre Roch Jurien took three frigates ahead. These were the 40-gun frigates Italienne, Calypso, and Cybèle. They sailed south on the evening of February 23.
The British ships watching Lorient saw them leave. They sent the 38-gun frigate HMS Amelia and the 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Doterel to chase them.
The Battle Starts
At dawn on February 24, near the Île de Ré, HMS Amelia got close to Cybèle. The other French frigates had to turn back to help, firing their cannons. This made the British ships fall back.
Soon, more ships appeared from the south. This was a British group led by Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford. His group included the powerful ships of the line HMS Caesar, HMS Defiance, and HMS Donegal. Stopford had been watching the French fleet near Rochefort. When his frigate HMS Naiad spotted Jurien's squadron, Stopford set a course to cut off the French frigates.
Jurien quickly realized his ships were greatly outnumbered. He steered for the coast, looking for a safe place to anchor. The best spot was the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne, which had a small harbor protected by cannons on land. At 9:10 AM, Amelia was close enough to fire at Cybèle's back, but then pulled away to join Stopford's main force. The French ships then anchored under the town's batteries. They used a special way to anchor that let them turn their sides (where most cannons were) to face the enemy.
Stopford was not scared by the shore cannons. At 10:30 AM, his ships sailed towards the French in a line, one after the other. Defiance led the way, followed by Caesar, Donegal, and Amelia. At 11:00 AM, Defiance, which could get closer to shore, was only about 600 meters (650 yards) from the French ships. It opened fire, and the French frigates and shore batteries fired back.
At 11:20 AM, Caesar and Donegal joined the attack, and Amelia followed at 11:30 AM. The combined firepower of the big British ships was too much for the French. By 11:50 AM, Cybèle and Italienne had to cut their anchor ropes. They drifted away from the British ships and ran aground (hit the bottom) on the shore. Their crews couldn't keep fighting because burning pieces from Defiance's cannons had set them on fire.
Around this time, Caesar moved to deeper water to avoid hitting the bottom. Defiance then focused its fire on Calypso. Within minutes, Calypso also tried to move, hoping to let the beached Italienne fire again. But Calypso moved too much and drifted onto the shore backwards. The British ships kept firing until the tide went out, forcing them to pull back one by one. Defiance was the last to leave at 12:15 PM. The British ships made one more pass, with Donegal firing the last shots, before Stopford ordered them to leave.
After the Battle
The British ships at Les Sables-d'Olonne were not badly damaged. Donegal and Caesar had minor damage to their ropes and sails, and Defiance had more damage to its ropes and masts. Three British sailors were killed, and 31 were wounded.
The French suffered more. Twenty-four sailors were killed, and 51 were wounded. While British reports said all three French ships were destroyed, the French were able to save two of them. Cybèle was too badly damaged and sinking, so it was broken up. Calypso and Italienne were brought into port, but they were too damaged to be fixed for military use. Calypso was broken up, and Italienne was sold to private companies. The French commander of Cybèle, Captain Cocault, was later cleared of any blame for losing his ship.
Stopford had hoped his attack would make Willaumez's main French fleet come out to help, where the British could surprise them. But Willaumez did not move. Stopford returned to watch the French fleet from Basque Roads. Soon after, the main British fleet, led by Admiral Lord Gambier, joined him. Stopford was present at the Battle of Basque Roads in April, where the French fleet was defeated and lost five ships.
