Martin's cruise of 1794

A few months after the entry of Great Britain into the French Revolutionary Wars in February 1793, a large Royal Navy fleet was sent to operate in the Mediterranean.[1] Their principal mission was a blockade of Toulon, the main base for the French Mediterranean Fleet.[2] The British fleet, under Lord Hood, arrived off Toulon in August 1793 to find that the port was in upheaval, conflict between Girondists and Jacobins raging against the backdrop of the Reign of Terror. Hood interceded in the dispute, persuading the Girondist faction to declare for the exiled French monarchy and invite the British to take control of the city and fleet.[3]

Hood's forced entered Toulon, and the town was soon counter-attacked by French Republican forces. The ensuing Siege of Toulon lasted four months, the city falling to Republican attack on 18 December.[4] At its conclusion, Hood sent boat parties into Toulon harbour to burn the French fleet, but ultimately only half of the fleet was destroyed, the remainder left damaged but repairable.[5] Those French ships in condition to sail were removed from the harbour and distributed among the allies who had participated in the siege; the British took six frigates and gave one, Alceste, to the Kingdom of Sardinia.[6]

In the spring of 1794, as the French repaired their damaged fleet, Hood turned his attention to the French-held island of Corsica, then in open rebellion.[7] In the ensuing invasion of Corsica, Hood's forces allied with the Corsican irregulars to attack first San Fiorenzo and then Bastia, besieging the French garrisons of the Corsican towns and forcing them to surrender.[8]

In Toulon, command of the French fleet had been granted to Contre-amiral Pierre Martin, who was assembling a 15-ship convoy to supply Corsica and raise the siege of Bastia. A squadron of his less damaged ships, comprising seven ships of the line and several frigates, was to escort the convoy. After Bastia fell to the British on 19 May, the original plans for the French relief convoy were abandoned, but Martin decided to offer a challenge to the British hegemony in the Ligurian Sea, and sailed with his squadron for a cruise in the region on 6 June.[9]

It is reported that shortly after departure the French squadron sighted a 10-ship British squadron to south and formed a line of battle, but the British refused the engagement, sailed by at a distance of 9 nautical miles (17 km), turned, and disappeared the next day.[10] There is no mention of this encounter in British histories.[11] News of Martin's activity soon reached Hood, then at anchor with 13 ships of the line off Bastia, and he ordered Alceste, operating as part of his fleet under a Captain Ross, to sail from Bastia to the French coast to warn the British ships operating off Toulon.[10]

Catching Alceste

Action of 8 June 1794
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Date 8 June 1794 Location Off Fréjus Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Sardinia
Commanders and leaders
Contre-amiral Pierre Martin	Captain Ross
Strength
Frigate Boudeuse 80-gun Tonnant	Frigate Alceste

On 8 June 1794, as the French squadron passed eastwards along the coast, lookouts spotted an unidentified sail between the squadron and the shore; this ship was Alceste.[10] Martin's squadron then approached the ship flying false British ensigns which fooled Ross. Alceste approached the squadron with confidence and his crew only realised their mistake when it was too late to escape. Martin sent the 32-gun frigate Boudeuse in chase, and the frigate successfully overhauled Alceste some 6 nautical miles (11 km) to windward of the French squadron.[10]

Boudeuse and Alceste fought for two hours, the smaller French ship taking serious damage to its rigging and mainmast from the gunfire of Alceste. Ross was unable however to escape his opponent, and this allowed the 80-gun ship of the line Tonnant to pull within range. Recognising that further resistance was hopeless, Ross allowed Tonnant to fire three shots before he struck his colours.[10] Boudeuse was so damaged that Martin sent the ship back to Toulon for repairs, although Alceste was mostly intact and was sent to Nice under a prize crew with the captured 14-gun merchant brig Expedition, taken the same day by the frigate Sérieuse while sailing from Bastia to Livorno.[10]

With Martin unable to influence operations on Corsica, Calvi fell to the British in August and Corsica became a self-governing part of the British Empire.[11] Martin continued with repairs to the fleet, so that by March 1795 he was able to deploy 17 ships on a renewed operation in the Ligurian Sea.[15] With this fleet was Alceste, which fought at the action of 8 March 1795 when the British ship of the line HMS Berwick, badly damaged in a storm, was chased down and captured by a division of Martin's fleet.[16] Alceste led the attack and although badly damaged, the frigate was able to kill the British captain and delay Berwick until heavier support could arrive.[15]

Later in the year Alceste was with the fleet which fought at the Battle of the Hyères Islands, the frigate attempting unsuccessfully to bring support to the crippled French ship Alcide while under heavy fire.[17] Alceste continued to serve with the French Mediterranean Fleet until 1799, when the ship was part of a French squadron overrun and captured by a British fleet under Lord Keith during the Croisière de Bruix campaign.[18]

• Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume III. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-012-4.
• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1996]. Fleet Battle and Blockade. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-363-X.
• Ireland, Bernard (2005). The Fall of Toulon: The Last Opportunity the Defeat the French Revolution. Cassell. ISBN 0-3043-6726-5.
• James, William (2002) [1827]. The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 1, 1793–1796. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-905-0.
• Mostert, Noel (2007). The Line upon a Wind: The Greatest War Fought at Sea Under Sail 1793 – 1815. Vintage Books. ISBN 9-78071-260-9272.
• Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé.