Battle of Tory Island

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Battle of Tory Island
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Coastline of Tory Island
Date 12 October 1798 Location Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles north of the Donegal coast near Tory Island. Result Decisive British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	French Republic
Commanders
Sir John Borlase Warren	Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart
Strength
3 ships of the line, 5 frigates	1 ship of the line, 9 frigates
Casualties and losses
approx. 150 casualties	7 ships lost during campaign, approx. 700 casualties

v • d • e 1798 Rebellion Ballymore-Eustace – Naas – Prosperous – Kilcullen – Carlow – Tara Hill – Oulart Hill – Newtownmountkennedy – Gibbet Rath – Three Rocks – Bunclody – Tuberneering – New Ross – Antrim – Arklow - Saintfield – Ballynahinch – Ovidstown – Foulksmills – Vinegar Hill – Ballyellis – Castlebar – Collooney – Ballinamuck – Killala – Tory Island

v • d • e Naval Battles of the French Revolutionary Wars May 1794 – Ushant – Genoa – Groix – Hyères – Camperdown – St Vincent – Nile – Tory Island – Copenhagen – Algeciras

The Battle of Tory Island, (sometimes called the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action fought on 12 October 1798, between French and British squadrons off the northwest coast of Donegal in Ireland during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was the last action of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, a major uprising in Ireland against British rule which was defeated by the British Army before significant French reinforcements could arrive to support the forces of the United Irishmen. The action was fought almost a month after the last land action of the rebellion and ended the final attempt by the French Navy to land substantial numbers of soldiers in Ireland.

Following the successful landing of a small French force under General Humbert some months previously at Killala, the Royal Navy was on the alert for a renewed French invasion effort. As a result, when the French squadron destined for Ireland with reinforcements left Brest, they were soon spotted and hunted down by several British squadrons working together. This force finally caught the French in a bay off Donegal close to Tory Island, and brought them to battle. During the action the outnumbered French squadron attempted to escape, but were eventually run down and defeated piecemeal, with the British capturing four ships and scattering the survivors. Over the next two weeks, British frigate patrols scoured the French passage back to Brest, capturing three more ships. Eventually only two frigates and a schooner reached safety from an original squadron of ten. British losses in the campaign were minimal.

The battle marked the defeat of the last attempt by the French Navy to launch an invasion of any part of the British Isles. It also ended the last hopes the United Irishmen had of receiving outside support in their struggle with the British. The leader of the United Irishmen, Theobald Wolfe Tone, was recognised aboard the surrendered French flagship and arrested. He was later tried for treason, convicted, and committed suicide hours before he was to be hanged.

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Invasion attempts 1.2 Rebellion of 1798 2 Bompart's mission 2.1 Countess's pursuit 2.2 Warren's pursuit 3 Battle of Tory Island 4 The chase 4.1 Melampus and Résolue 4.2 Flight of Loire 4.3 Fisgard and Immortalité 5 Savary's squadron 6 Aftermath 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Background

The idea of a landing troops in Ireland had been a popular strategic goal for Britain's continental enemies for many years before the French Revolutionary Wars.^[1] Ireland was seen on the European continent as Britain's weak point because unlike Britain herself, a landing of foreign troops in Ireland could count on the support of a large proportion of the native population.^[1] Such a force would also face fewer and substantially less reliable British Army units during an initial landing. If Britain could be successfully drawn into a protracted campaign in Ireland then the British Army would be consequently less available for other theatres of war.^[2]

During the French Revolutionary Wars, the rhetoric of the French Revolution inspired many Irishmen to fight for the same revolutionary principles in their own nation and to attempt simultaneously to achieve independence from Great Britain.^[3] With these aims in mind, a society was formed named the United Irishmen, led by Dublin lawyer Theobald Wolfe Tone. Allying itself with the First French Republic, the society was forced to go underground at the outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1793, in the face of suppression by British authorities.^[4] Tone and other members of the organisation secretly travelled to France and attempted to built popularity in the French National Convention for an invasion of Ireland. Such an invasion, they claimed, could rely on support from large numbers of Irish irregulars once it had landed and if successful would strike a severe blow to the British war effort, perhaps severe enough to force Britain to seek peace.^[5]

[edit] Invasion attempts

The divided nature of French politics during the period made this operation difficult to prepare, a process further hampered by the French Atlantic Fleet's defeat in 1794 at the Glorious First of June and the disastrous Croisière du Grand Hiver operation in 1795. These failures bred a negative mentality amongst the French officer corps which had survived The Terror and discouraged adventurous strategic thinking.^[6] Despite this, an invasion force was dispatched in December 1796 consisting of 17 ships of the line and 27 smaller ships carrying as many as 25,000 men under Admiral Morard de Galles.^[7] The expedition was a total disaster for the French fleet, with 13 ships lost and over 2,000 men drowned.^[6] In addition, despite elements of the force spending up to a week off Bantry Bay, not a single French soldier was successfully landed in Ireland.^[8]

The following year, Tone and his companions attempted a second time to land troops in Ireland, persuading the government of the Netherlands, then under French occupation, to prepare their own expedition.^[9] During 1797, the Dutch fleet was readied and provisioned and eventually set sail to Brest to combine with the French fleet there and launch a second invasion attempt. The Dutch fleet had been at sea only a few hours however when they were confronted by the Royal Navy's North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan. Duncan immediately attacked the Dutch and in the ensuing Battle of Camperdown captured or destroyed ten of the Dutch fleet and scattered the rest.^[10] The French fleet never left port.

[edit] Rebellion of 1798

A third effort to invade Ireland, in 1798, was more successful. A frigate squadron under Commodore Daniel Savary succeeded in landing, under false British colours, 1,150 French soldiers under General Humbert at Killala.^[11] The small size of the force dispatched was a consequence of the French lack of readiness for the spontaneous uprising which spread across Ireland in May 1798. The rebellion had been planned to coincide with a French landing, but British intelligence operations had infiltrated the United Irishmen and arrested much of its leadership, prompting a precipitate revolt.^[4] Although the rebellion had achieved some early successes, by the time Humbert arrived in August the war had already been decided with the defeat of successive rebel armies by British Army forces. Humbert's force gained minor victories over local militia units, but was unable to face superior British numbers at the Battle of Ballinamuck and surrendered.^[12]

[edit] Bompart's mission

For more details on this topic, see Order of battle at the Battle of Tory Island.

Following the initial landing, a second expedition was prepared in the hope of reigniting the rebellion and reinforcing Humbert. This army, consisting of 3,000 men aboard the ship of the line Hoche and eight frigates, was under the command of Commodore Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, who departed Brest on 16 September. Bompart however, and the rest of France, was unaware that Humbert had surrendered a week earlier.^[13] The Royal Navy had not been idle after missing Savary's squadron; roving frigate patrols watched the principle French ports and the approaches to Ireland, whilst squadrons of battleships from the Channel Fleet cruised nearby, ready to move against any invasion force spotted by the scouts. In command of the squadron on the Irish station was Sir John Borlase Warren, a highly experienced officer who had made a name for himself raiding the French coast early in the war.^[14]

Bompart's squadron departed Brest late in the evening, hoping to slip past the inshore squadron of the British blockade in the dark. The plan failed because Bompart's force took too long to navigate the Raz passage, and were spotted at dawn on 17 September by a frigate squadron under Richard Goodwin Keats in HMS Boadicea. Keats immediately divided his forces, ordering HMS Ethalion under Captain George Countess and the brig HMS Sylph to follow the French force. Keats himself brought news of the French movements to Lord Bridport, admiral of the Channel Fleet.^[15]

[edit] Countess's pursuit

Aware he was being pursued, Bompart initially continued to the north, Countess following him closely during the day and being joined on 18 September by HMS Amelia under Captain The Hon. Charles Herbert. Amelia had spotted the chase the day before, and caught up during the night by passing silently through the French squadron.^[16] The next day, Bompart attempted to throw off this pursuit by feinting towards Lorient, but the British captains continued to follow and remained on Bompart's track throughout the following day as he again tried to shake off pursuit by feinting south towards the Antilles. By 20 September the British squadron was only nine miles from Bompart, who was continuing in his pretence of sailing for the Americas. The British squadron had also been joined by HMS Anson under Philip Charles Durham, a large razee frigate.^[17]

By the evening of 23 September, despite Bompart's efforts, Countess had correctly determined that the French force was heading for Ireland and despatched the brig Sylph to warn Warren and any other British ships she came across.^[17] Two days later, on 25 September, Bompart was forced to haul to the east, losing ground to his pursuers, when a 100-ship convoy passed to the north. This convoy consisted of many well-armed East Indiamen and was protected by several frigates, posing a serious threat to Bompart's overloaded ships.^[16] Bompart then attempted to drive off pursuit by feinting towards Countess's squadron and then pulling back. The faster British ships simply withdrew to a safe distance, returning to the chase once Bompart retreated to his original course. Bompart's final attempt to shake Countess's pursuit was on 29 September, when he attempted to engage the British frigates with three of his own, Immortalité, Loire and another. This plan also failed after the flagship Hoche lost a topmast in the heavy weather of the mid-Atlantic and fell behind, forcing the frigates to return to her protection.^[16]

Unable to shake Countess's pursuit, Bompart abandoned the pretence of sailing for the Americas and instead turned north-west, the British squadron following close behind. During the next day high winds cost both Hoche and Anson a topmast, slowing both squadrons, but the repairs to Hoche were conducted faster and as a result the French pulled further ahead. For four more days pursuit continued directly north, but on 4 October a storm descended and Bompart successfully outran Countess in the increasing darkness. In the ensuing high winds, Amelia was driven off course away from her compatriots and Anson again suffered damage, losing two topmasts.^[18]

On 11 October the weather cleared and Countess spotted two sail to the south and took Ethalion to investigate. The ships were Amelia and a ship of the line of Warren's squadron, who was sailing north in an attempt to intercept Bompart after receiving Sylph's warning.^[19] Warren's three battleships and razee frigate had been joined the day before by two further frigates, HMS Melampus under Captain Graham Moore and HMS Doris under Lord Ranelagh. Warren attached Melampus to his squadron and detached Doris to scout along the Irish coast, especially in the Donegal region where the previous landing had been effected.^[18]

[edit] Warren's pursuit

Bompart had used his escape to head directly for Lough Swilly where the landing was scheduled to take place. Unaware of the defeat of the rebellion, Bompart hoped that Humbert's army would be in the Lough Swilly area following the campaign planned before Humbert had left France.^[20] After arriving off the coast, Bompart began searching for a suitable landing site but was unable to find one before dark on 10 October. Waiting out the night close to Tory Island, Bompart was surprised the next day by Warren's squadron approaching on the horizon, joined by Countess's ships to present an overwhelming force. Abandoning all notions of landing the troops, Bompart hauled his ships close to the wind to give them room to manouvere and allow their captains as much opportunity as possible to escape the approaching British force.^[11]

Throughout the day, Warren's squadron closed on Bompart's from the north-east, Bompart making frantic efforts to escape the land. Both fleets were hindered by a gale which swept the sea shortly before 20:00, blowing down all three of Hoche's topmasts and shredding her mizensail, leaving her substantially slower than her compatriots and forcing them to hold back in her defence.^[21] Other ships suffered too, as the French Résolue sprang a severe leak and Anson on the British side lost her mizenmast and several topmasts in the wind.^[22]

[edit] Battle of Tory Island

During the night, Bompart attempted to both escape to the east and decoy the British by ordering the frigate Résolue to beach herself and fire flares in the hope of distracting Warren from his pursuit. For unknown reasons this order was never carried out, and in the morning Warren was still hard behind Bompart, whose ships were sailing in two uneven lines.^[23] Warren's force was even more dispersed with HMS Robust and HMS Magnanime four miles astern of the French and gaining fast, Amelia and Melampus shortly behind them and flagship HMS Canada with HMS Foudroyant eight miles from the enemy. The other British ships were scattered throughout this formation except Anson, which was wallowing to the rear, far out of sight.^[24]

Realising he could not escape and would have to fight his way past the British, Bompart formed his squadron into a battleline and continued westwards, waiting for Warren's signal for the attack.^[25] Due to the dispersed nature of his squadron, Warren did not issue this signal until 07:00, when he ordered Robust to steer for the French line and attack Hoche directly.^[26] Captain Edward Thornbrough of Robust obeyed immediately and closed with the French, firing into the frigates Embuscade and Coquille as he passed before closing with Hoche and beginning a bitter close range artillery duel at 08:50. Minutes later Magnanime joined the action, firing on the rear frigates and engaging the French van of Immortalité, Loire and Bellone which had swung out of the line to rake her.^[22] The next three British ships into action, Ethalion, Melampus and Amelia, all raked the isolated Hoche as they passed before pressing on sail to pursue the French frigates, now making distance to the south-west.^[27] Canada and the subsequent British ships all ignored Hoche except to fire a few distant shots. By the time they passed, she was clearly a wreck, having been pounded repeatedly by Robust and Magnanime. Bompart finally surrendered at 10:50 with 270 of his crew and passengers made casualties.^[25]

Embuscade was the next to surrender, having been battered in the opening exchanges and further damaged by long-range fire from Foudroyant during the pursuit. Overhauled by several larger British ships, Captain de la Ronciére surrendered at 11:30, rather than be destroyed.^[28] Magnanime, suffering the effects of her engagement with Hoche, took possession of Embuscade and followed slowly behind the rest of the fleet. Robust, which had suffered severely in her duel with Hoche, remained alongside her erstwhile opponent to take possession. The direction of the French squadron's flight, following the direction of the wind, took them across the path of the straggling British ships, initially the Foudroyant.^[28] Most of the frigates were able outrun this ponderous enemy, but Bellone was less fortunate and a speculative shot from the battleship detonated a case of grenades in one of her topmasts. This began a potentially disastrous fire which was eventually put out, but at the cost of speed. She was soon closely attacked by Melampus and suffered further damage. Nearby the struggling Coquille surrendered after being outrun by the approaching Canada, Warren ordering the slowly following Magnanime to take possession.^[28]

Ethalion took over pursuit of Bellone from Melampus and for two hours kept a continuous fire with her bow-chasers on the French ship. Ethalion's speed was greater than that of her quarry, and she slowly pulled parallel with Bellone during the afternoon, but could not get close enough for a decisive blow. It took another two hours of pursuit before the battered Bellone eventually surrendered.^[29] Hoche apart, Bellone had suffered more casualties than any other ship present. To the south of this conflict, the struggling Anson had discovered herself in danger when the surviving frigates of the French vanguard swept towards her. Captain Durham was initially confused by their approach as they flew false British ensigns, but he rapidly realised their true identity and at 16:00 opened fire on Loire.^[29] The damaged Anson was severely hampered by her inability to manouvere, and so could do nothing when the French ships pulled away from her except continue to fire until they were out of range. During the evening, the French frigates pulled away from their pursuers and disappeared into the gathering night, leaving behind four of their squadron, including their flagship, as captives.^[30]

[edit] The chase

Warren did not abandon pursuit at nightfall, following the French ships into Donegal Bay with Canada, Melampus and Foudroyant. During the night, the two forces repeatedly passed one another in the dark and Canada almost drove ashore. At the battlesite, Warren had ordered Robust to tow Hoche into Lough Swilly. This was an unusual order as Robust was in a battered state herself and the storms of the previous week had not abated. Thus when a gale struck the pair on 13 October, Hoche lost several masts and broke her tow, only being prevented from foundering by the combined efforts of the British prize crew and their French prisoners.^[31] Eventually on 15 October, the Doris appeared and took Hoche in tow to Lough Swilly, where they arrived without further incident a few days later. Meanwhile, Ethalion brought in Bellone while Magnanime and Amelia saw Coquille and Embuscade safely into port.^[31]

[edit] Melampus and Résolue

On the morning of 13 October, Warren sighted two of the French frigates standing out of Donegal Bay and made pursuit after them, directing Moore in Melampus to search the bay for any remaining French ships.^[30] Melampus was hindered in this aim by contrary winds, but at 23:30 was surprised by the appearance shortly in front of her of Immortalité and Résolue near St. John's Point. Immortalité spotted Melampus and made sail immediately but Résolue had not seen the British ship, and so was hesitant about following her compatriot in the dark.^[32] In the gloom and confusion, Captain Bargeau of Résolue mistook Melampus for Immortalité and came alongside, only realising his mistake when Melampus opened fire. Due to the heavy seas, Résolue's guns had been tied down below decks and were unable to fire, the only trivial resistance she offered coming from her handful of quarterdeck guns. Bargeau, recognising that further resistance was futile, surrendered in minutes, having lost ten men and much of his rigging. Melampus put aboard a prize crew and then departed in pursuit of Immortalité.^[32]

[edit] Flight of Loire

Loire and Sémillante had escaped from the battle into Black Sod Bay, and there hoped to hide until they had a clear passage back to France. Late on 15 October however a British frigate squadron under James Newman Newman rounded the southern headland of the bay, forcing the French ships to flee to the north.^[33] Pressing on sail in pursuit, Newman ordered HMS Révolutionaire to focus on Sémillante whilst he pursued Loire in HMS Mermaid, accompanied by the brig HMS Kangaroo. The French also split their forces, Loire and Sémillante separating to divide their pursuers. Révolutionaire pursued Sémilliante but eventually lost her in the night, whilst Mermaid and Kangaroo followed Loire, also losing track of her in the early evening.^[34]

On the morning of 16 October, Newman again spotted Loire on the horizon and ordered his ships in pursuit immediately. Loire was faster than Mermaid in the high winds which continued to plague the region, but she was not able to outrun Kangaroo, which ship directly engaged the far larger frigate in a distant artillery duel. The weights of shot between the combatants were greatly unbalanced and Kangaroo suffered consequently, eventually falling behind after suffering shot damage to her rigging.^[33] Loire too had been damaged, and by 06:45 the following morning Captain Segond realised he could not escape his pursuers and instead shortened sail to engage Mermaid, by then the only pursuer within reach.^[34]

Mermaid and Loire joined battle at 07:00, and the artillery exchange became close and furious after a boarding attempt by Loire was foiled by the helmsman of the British ship. Both ships took severe damage, Mermaid knocking away several spars from her opponent but suffering in turn from the musketry of the soldier–passengers aboard Loire. At 09:15, Loire lost another spar, and Newman determined to rake his opponent. As he attempted to conduct this manouvere, a shot from Loire brought down Mermaid's mizenmast, making her unmanageable.^[35] The battered Loire took the opportunity to escape her opponent, making significant distance before Newman's crew could clear the wreckage of the mast. High winds further hampered Mermaid's repair efforts by tearing away several sails and spars and drowning the ship's carpenter when he was blown off the ship's side. By the time Mermaid was ready for action once more, Loire appeared to have escaped pursuit.^[34]

Unfortunately for Captain Segond, when dawn broke on 18 October it revealed HMS Anson only a short distance off, limping southwards after the damage its rigging and masts had suffered before the battle on 12 October.^[36] Captain Durham was not prepared to lose a second opportunity to seize the French ship, and slowly brought his vessel to bear on Loire, which was in a worse shape than Anson and unable to escape.^[37] Beside Anson was Kangaroo, recovered from the damage of 16 October and also ready for further action. At 10:30, Anson and Loire began firing on one another, neither able to effectively manouvere and both relying on firepower to overwhelm their opponent. Kangaroo however closed on the unprotected stern of Loire, firing as she did so and raking the immobile French ship.^[34] By 12:00 Loire had lost her mainmast and was leaking badly, forcing Segond to surrender to Durham, his ship towed to port as the sixth prize of the campaign.

[edit] Fisgard and Immortalité

The survivors of the French fleet had mostly avoided pursuit by 19 October and all four were nearing Brest independently, hoping to slip through the tight British blockade around the harbour. Romaine, whose captain had attempted to land the troops aboard in Ireland on 13 October, was forced to abandon this plan after the soldiers refused to be put ashore. Captain Mathieu-Charles Bergevin then sailed southwest and avoided all contact with British forces, joining with the schooner Biche and arriving at Brest on 23 October. The same day, Sémillante arrived in Lorient after outrunning Révolutionaire's pursuit, the last French ship to safely return home.^[38]

Immortalité almost reached safety too. On the morning of 20 October, Captain Jean-François Legrand was approaching Brest when he was spotted by Captain Thomas Byam Martin of HMS Fisgard. Fisgard formed part of the inshore squadron of the blockade of Brest and she immediately offered battle, Immortalité initially attempting to flee but eventually being forced to engage the faster Fisgard at 11:00.^[39] During the bitter, close–range action, Fisgard took severe damage and briefly lost her opponent but ultimately gained success, defeating Immortalité, which had lost a mast and was in a sinking condition, at 15:00. Immortalité's 115 casualties included Captain Legrande, his first lieutenant and General Monge (commander of the 250 soldiers on board), all dead. Fisgard, with the aid of other ships of the blockade squadron, successfully brought her prize into port.^[39]

[edit] Savary's squadron

The French high command had not been idle during the destruction of their invasion force, preparing and dispatching a second frigate squadron under Commodore Daniel Savary initially to support Bompart and later to escort the squadron's survivors back to France.^[40] On 27 October, Savary learnt of the destruction of both Bompart's squadron and the Irish rebellion from sympathetic locals at Killala, and turned immediately south, hoping to avoid a similar fate. On 28 October however, Savary was spotted by a three ship squadron under James Saumarez which included two ships of the line.^[41] Saumarez immediately gave chase to Savary's force, and the squadrons exchanged long–distance cannon fire throughout the day. Late in the evening however Saumarez's flagship HMS Caesar lost its foretopmast in strong winds and command passed to Sir Richard Bickerton in HMS Terrible.

Late on 29 October Savary split his squadron, sending two frigates to the south east and turning north west with two more. In response, Bickerton split his own force, sending the frigate HMS Melpomene after the southern frigates and following Savary himself in Terrible. After another day of pursuit, both British ships were within two miles of their opponents and were preparing for action, when at 17:00 on 30 October a severe storm lashed the area. Savary's ships had been extending their pursuit by throwing guns, horses and equipment overboard in an effort to lighten their ships, and consequently were better suited to the high winds.^[42] The heavier British ships were unable to match their opponent's speed, and consequently dropped back. When the weather cleared, the French ships were out of sight and all four eventually returned independently to Brest, ending the final French attempt to invade Ireland.^[40]

An effort to support the French invasion fleet was also made by the Navy of the Batavian Republic, which dispatched the small frigates Furie and Waakzaamheid to Ireland with military supplies on 24 October. These ships were both intercepted and captured in turn by the British frigate HMS Sirius within hours of leaving port.^[34]

[edit] Aftermath

The retreat of Savary marked the end of the last attempt by a continental nation to land troops in Ireland. French losses were so severe in the operation that a repeat effort was not contemplated again. Similarly, the huge Irish losses during the rebellion, combined with British reprisals against the Irish populace had also ended any hopes of reigniting the uprising in the near future.^[25] Most serious of all for the United Irishmen was the arrest of Wolfe Tone himself, after being discovered among the prisoners taken from Hoche. Tone was charged with treason and sentenced to death, committing suicide before the sentence could be carried out.^[43] Rebellions in Ireland would continue, but never again would France attempt to supply military support.

In Britain the engagement was considered a great success, with the thanks of parliament being bestowed on the entire force.^[44] Numerous junior officers were promoted and all crew members received financial rewards from the sale of the captured vessels. Of these prizes, Immortalité and Loire were purchased and served in the Royal Navy under their own names for many years, while Hoche and Embuscade were renamed HMS Donegal and HMS Seine respectively, although Seine was not added to the Navy until 1803. Coquille was intended for purchase but suffered a catastrophic ammunition explosion in December 1798, which killed 13 people and totally destroyed the vessel.^[44] The last two prizes, Résolue and Bellone were deemed too old and damaged to be worthy of active service. They were however, purchased by the Royal Navy to provide their captors with prize money, Bellone becoming HMS Proserpine and Résolue becoming HMS Resolue. Both ships served as harbour vessels until they were broken up some years later.^[45]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Brooks, Richard (2005). Battlefields of Britain & Ireland. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-30436-333-2. 
• Cookson, J. E. (1997). The British Armed Nation, 1793-1815. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19820-658-5. 
• Editor: Gardiner, Robert [reprint of 1996] (2001). "The Channel and Ireland", Nelson Against Napoleon. Caxton Editions. ISBN 0-86176-026-4. 
• Henderson CBE, James [reprint of 1970] (1994). The Frigates. Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-432-6. 
• Ireland, Bernard (2000). Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00414-522-4. 
• James, William [reprint of 1827] (2002). The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 2, 1797-1799. Conway Martime Press. ISBN 0-85177-906-9. 
• Manning, Capt. T. D. & Walker CDR C. F. (1959). British Warship Names. Putnam. 
• Pakenham, Thomas [reprint of 1997] (2000). The Year of Liberty. Abacus Publishing. ISBN 0-34911-252-5. 
• Regan, Geoffrey (2001). Naval Blunders. Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-23399-978-7. 
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books. ISBN 0-85367-276-9. 
• Editor: Tracy, Nicholas (1998). The Naval Chronicle, Volume 1, 1793-1798. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-091-4. 

[edit] External links

London Gazette: no. 15072, pages 987–990, 21 October 1798. Retrieved on 2008-03-25. Contemporary publication of Sir John Borlase Warren's despatch reporting the victory.