Action of 30 September 1780

Action of 30 September 1780 Part of the American Revolutionary War The Pearl taking L'Esperance - 30 Sep 1780 Date 30 September 1780 Location off the Bermudas Result British victory Belligerents  Great Britain  France Commanders and leaders George Montagu unknown Strength 1 Frigate HMS Pearl 1 frigate L'Esperance Casualties and losses 6 killed, 10 wounded 20 killed, 24 wounded 156 captured, 1 frigate captured

Anglo-French War 1778–1783 Europe 17 June 1778 1st Ushant 20 October 1778 1st Jersey English Channel Plymouth Gibraltar Flamborough Head 6 October 1779 15 June 1780 Cape Santa Maria 13 August 1780 2nd Jersey Minorca 2nd Ushant 3rd Ushant Île-de-Batz Cape Spartel 12 December 1782 Caribbean Dominica 1st St. Lucia 2nd St. Lucia Saint Vincent 1st Grenada 2nd Grenada 1st Martinique Guadeloupe 2nd Martinique Bermuda Fort Royal Tobago Brimstone Hill Frigate Bay Demerara & Essequibo Montserrat The Saintes Mona Passage 18 October 1782 6 December 1782 15 February 1783 Grand Turk North America Rhode Island Charles Town Savannah 1st Long Island Cape Henry Cape Breton Cape Ann Yorktown Chesapeake Yorktown Hudson Bay 2nd Long Island Delaware Bay 2nd Chesapeake East Indies Pondicherry Porto Praya Sadras Providien Negapatam Pisang Trincomalee 1st Cuddalore 2nd Cuddalore

The Action of 30 September 1780 was a minor naval engagement off the Bermudas, where HMS Pearl captured the L'Espérance, a French frigate of 32 guns launched in 1779.^[1]

HMS Pearl under the command of George Montagu was sent out to North America, and on 30 September 1780, soon encountered a frigate off the Bermudas. As Pearl closed Montagu cleared for action and engaged close for two hours, then maintained a running fight for a further two hours and more when the frigate struck.^[2][3]

The prize turned out to be the French frigate L'Espérance of about 850 tons of thirty two guns consisting of twelve and six pounders, nearly 200 men and with a valuable cargo heading from Cape Francois to Bordeaux. L'Espérance lost 20 killed and 24 wounded as well as the crew & marines captured, while Pearl's loses were six killed and ten wounded. The captured French frigate was put into Royal Naval service and renamed HMS Clinton.^[4]

References

Bibliography

• Allen, Joseph (1852). Battles of the British Navy, Volume 1. Bohn's illustrated library. ASIN B009ZMMQ56. 
• Clowes, William Laird (2003). The Royal Navy: v. 4: A History - From the Earliest Times to 1900. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1861760128.