Action of 17 June 1778 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
Combat de la Belle Poule et de l'Aréthusa by Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Great Britain | France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Augustus Keppel | Jean Clocheterie | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
|
| ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
|
The action of 17 June 1778 also known as the Fight of Belle Poule and Arethusa was a minor naval action that took place off the coast of France between British and French frigates. The action was widely celebrated by both France and Great Britain and was the first between the two naval forces during the American Revolutionary War before a formal declaration of war was even announced.[2]
Cite error: There are <ref group=Note>
tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}}
template (see the help page).