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| Action of 20 October 1778 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Anglo-French War | |||||||
 Action of the French ship Triton against the British ship Jupiter and the British frigate Medea | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |
 Great Britain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Comte de Ligondès |
Francis Reynolds James Montagu | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ship-of-the-line Triton |
ship-of-the-line Jupiter Frigate Medea | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
13 killed 20 wounded |
4 killed 10 wounded | ||||||
The Action of 20 October 1778 was a inconclusive engagement between French ship Triton and British ship Jupiter and the frigate Medea.
The outbreak of the War of the American Independence had caused relations between France and Great Britain to deteriorate. After signing a formal treaty with the United States in February 1778, diplomatic ties were broken and France declared war against Britain on 16 March 1778.[1]
On October 20th, the French ship-of-the-line Triton under Captain Comte de Ligondès, being on a cruise on the Bay of Biscaia, fell in with the British ship-of-the-line Jupiter under Captain Francis Reynolds, and the Frigate Medea under Captain James Montagu. At about 5 PM both sides were at close quartes, the Jupiter ranged up on one board, the Medea on the other, about nightfall, and cannonaded the Triton hotly.[2] The French captain succeeded in turning the same broadside to both his assailants, achieving to put Medea out of action with a thirty-six livre shot though the underwater bow after the first half-hour of fight, but he got wounded in either arm soon afterward and had to hand over the command to Lieutenant de Roquart. Triton and Jupiter continued to exchange shots for more two hours, until a squall of wind and rain, and the impenetrable darkness of the night separated the combatants.[3]
The Triton had thirteen killed and about twenty wounded, she had fifty shot in her hull or masts, and her sails and rigging were much cut up, but according to Captain Reynolds, she was still able to sail.[4] The Jupiter had to sail back into Lisbon for refit with three killed and seven wounded; the Medea didn't take any further part in the action, having retreat away early on with one killed and three wounded.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ Gréhan 1837, p. 300.
- ^ Clarke & McArthur 2010, p. 340.
- ^ Clarke & McArthur 2010, p. 341.
- ^ Clowes 1899, pp. 22–22.
- ^ Clowes 1899, p. 22.
- Clarke, James Stanier; McArthur, John (2010). The Naval Chronicle: Volume 13. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-01852-4.
- Clowes, William Laird (1899). The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, Volume 4. Sampson Low, Marston and Company. ISBN 9781293192399.
- Gréhan, Amédée (1837). La France maritime. Pilout.
Category:Naval battles involving France Category:Naval battles involving Great Britain Category:Naval battles of the Anglo-French War (1778–1783) Category:Conflicts in 1778