Action of 13 May 1779

On 1 May 1779 a French invasion force led by Karl Heinrich von Nassau-Siegen attacked Jersey, intending to capture the island through a coup de main. The invasion force was made up of five ships of the line and a number of smaller vessels, together carrying 2,500 soldiers.[lower-alpha 2][2][3] The force attempted to land at Saint Ouen Bay, but a combined force of local militia and the 78th Regiment of Foot, which was garrisoned on the island, repulsed the attack. Unable to proceed with their landings, Nassau-Siegen's force put to sea again.[4] When the threat from the French force had been at its highest, the island's governor had sent a flyboat to Portsmouth to raise the alarm.[5] While on her way there the boat encountered the squadron of Rear-Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot at 10 a.m. on 2 May that was escorting a large convoy to North America. Arbuthnot took his force to the Channel Islands and arrived at Guernsey on 4 May to find that the invasion force had departed.[4][1]

While Arbuthnot sailed to relieve the islands, the messenger that had reached him continued on to Portsmouth. Admiral Sir Thomas Pye, the commander-in-chief there, ordered a group of frigates under the command of Captain John Gidoin of HMS Richmond to sail out to Jersey.[4] Arbuthnot left Jersey to continue to North America on 6 May, but had left behind the frigate HMS Experiment under Captain Sir James Wallace to temporarily bolster naval forces in the area.[4][3] Gidoin's force joined with Wallace at Boule Bay.[4]

On 10 May the bailiff of Jersey sent a letter to Gidoin, who was the senior captain still on station, to report that a group of French ships that had been tasked with assisting the invasion, had been seen near the Chausey islands, situated between the French coast and the Channel Islands.[6][7][5] Wallace, who had been preparing to leave the area and re-join Arbuthnot, instead chose to stay with Gidoin. Some small ships were sent out to Chausey to discover the nature of the French ships, and they soon reported that the French force consisted of the frigates Danae and Diane , the gabarre Ecluse, the corvette Valeur, and cutter Guepe, and that they were anchored off Coutances.[6][1][8]

Gidoin and Wallace decided to split their force to provide the greatest possible chance of intercepting the French ships before they could escape. Wallace, in Experiment, took with him the frigates HMS Pallas and HMS Unicorn, the brig HMS Cabot, the sloop HMS Fortune, and one other vessel donated by the locals to assist in the hunt. Gidoin, in Richmond, took with him the four other ships of the squadron and three more local armed vessels.[9][1] The two forces sailed on 12 May; Gidoin went directly for Coutances where the French were still at anchor, while Wallace took a westerly route around Jersey in order to cut off any escape route the enemy might have used.[10][11]

When Gidoin's force came in sight of the French, the French set sail north towards St Malo – unbeknownst to them, this was towards where Wallace was waiting for them. Gidoin chased the French but by 10 p.m. the tide was against him and his ships were making very little headway so he was forced to anchor off Granville. At the same time Wallace's force were beset by similar difficulties but by 7 p.m. had succeeded in getting round Jersey.[10]

A model of the lead British ship in the attack, Experiment

At 3 a.m. on 13 May Gidoin set sail once more and at a slow pace struggled in the direction the French had been sailing; at 10 a.m. he discovered Wallace's squadron ahead of him, chasing the French who had anchored in Cancale Bay. Gidoin was not able to make up the distance to Wallace and the French force, and would play no further role in the subsequent action.[10]

In the early morning daylight of 13 May Wallace, still sailing for the French, found another French frigate sailing from St Malo to assist her brethren in Cancale Bay. Wallace chased this new opponent under the guns of the batteries of St Malo, where she stayed for her own projection. Unable to continue his assault on the frigate, Wallace redirected his force towards the original group of French ships, which were off to his left, just outside the bay itself.[10]

Pallas brought Danae into Plymouth on 17 May.[15]

The Royal Navy brought Danae into the service under the same name. In reward for the success of the endeavour Commander Charles Powell Hamilton of Fortune and Commander Edmund Dod of Cabot were promoted to post-captain, and Lieutenant John Wallace of Experiment was promoted to commander.[7] Experiment would go on to re-join Arbuthnot's force, which was still at Torbay, and sail to New York.[3]

While several of the vessels burned by the British were unsalvageable, the French did succeed in rescuing Guepe after Wallace had left the bay,[1] and later recovering Ecluse.[lower-alpha 5]

The destruction of their ships forced the French to abandon temporarily their plans to capture Jersey for user as a privateering and observation base, as they no longer had enough escorts available to protect an invasion force.[5] The French tried again in 1781, but British forces on the island repelled the invasion at the Battle of Jersey.