Theaction of 31 May 1796 was a small action during theFrench Revolutionary Wars in which aRoyal Navy squadron under the command of CommodoreHoratio Nelson, in the 64-gunthird-rateship of the lineHMS Agamemnon, captured a seven-vessel French convoy that was sailing along the coast fromMenton toVado in the Mediterranean. The British succeeded in capturing the entire convoy, with minimal casualties to themselves.
Nelson had received the news that the French were trying to take supplies to St Pierre d'Acena for thesiege of Mantua. He therefore set out to intercept any such attempt.[1]
When Nelson and his squadron sighted a small convoy of seven sail skirting the coast, he pursued them. The French vessels anchored under the guns of a shore battery and hoisted French flags. Nelson then sent in the squadron's ships' boats to capture the convoy. After a short resistance by an armedtartane of three guns, a gunboat of one gun, and the battery, the British succeeded in taking the vessels. British casualties were one man killed and three wounded.[1] French records place the action offArma di Taggia andBussana.[2]
The vessels the British captured were two naval vessels and five transports.[3]
Génie, which the British described as aketch, was armed with three 18-pounder guns and fourswivel guns.[4] She had a crew of 60 men,[4] under the command ofenseigne de vaisseau Pioch.[2] She was one of 28 merchant tartanes that theFrench Navy acquired between March and June 1794 atSète andAgde.[4]Génie, however, was apparently purchased,[5] at Agde, and commissioned in June 1796.[6] The French Navy armed the tartanes with large guns to serve as gunboats.[Note 1]
Numéro Douze (Chaloupe-cannonière №12), was a gunboat of one 18-pounder gun, fourswivel guns, and 30 men. Some records report that she was commissioned in 1795 and was under the command of Captain Ganivet at the time of her capture.[8][Note 2]
BrigBonne-Mère, of 250 tons (bm), carrying as cargo brass 24-pounder guns, 13" mortars, and gun carriages;
KetchVierge de Consolation, of 120 tons (bm), carrying a cargo of brass guns, mortars, shells, and gun carriages;
KetchJean Baptiste, of 100 tons (bm), carrying brandy and a small amount of bread;
A ketch of unknown name of 100 tons (bm), carrying Austrian prisoners; and
KetchSt. Anne de Paix, of 70 tons (bm), carrying wheelbarrows and entrenching tools. The British destroyed her.[1]
^Unfortunately, the information in Winfield and Roberts, and Winfield, has a mistaken fate forGénie. She did not becomeHMS Venom.[4][7] Vessel types, dates, and locations do not match in thatVenom was a brig already in service in the Caribbean in March–April 1794. She continued to serve there until 1799 or 1800. It is quite possible thatGénie became aVenom, it was not uncommon for local station commanders to commission locally-acquired vessels, particularly as tenders to a larger vessel, but theVenom the sources refer to is a different vessel entirely.
^Numero Douze matches the admittedly sketchy information for one of a series ofchaloupe-canonnières built at Toulon in 1794. However, No. 12 was renamedNégligente in May 1795,[9] and was reportedly wrecked near Genoa that month.[10] There is evidence that there was a secondNuméro Douze that also was lost near Genoa.[8] It is possible that after the loss ofNuméro Douze/Négligente in May 1795, the French Navy commissioned a newNuméro Douze that then was the one captured in 1796.
Demerliac, Alain (2004).La Marine de la Révolution: Nomenclature des Navires Français de 1792 à 1799 (in French). Éditions Ancre.ISBN2-906381-24-1.
Fonds Marine. Campagnes (opérations; divisions et stations navales; missions diverses). Inventaire de la sous-série Marine BB4. Tome premier : BB4 1 à 209 (1790-1804)[1]
Roche, Jean-Michel (2005).Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau.ISBN978-2-9525917-0-6.OCLC165892922.
Winfield, Rif (2008).British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing.ISBN978-1-86176-246-7.
Winfield, Rif; Roberts, Stephen S. (2015).French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786–1861: Design Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing.ISBN978-1-84832-204-2.
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