Battle of Martinique (1779)

Battle of Martinique
Part of the American Revolutionary War

Bataille de la Martinique, Jean-Marie Chavane
Date18 December 1779
Location14°35′N 61°09′W / 14.583°N 61.150°W / 14.583; -61.150
Result British victory[1]
Belligerents
 Great Britain  France
Commanders and leaders
Hyde Parker Picquet la Motte
Strength
13 ships of the line 3 ships of the line
26 merchant ships
Casualties and losses
150 killed and wounded
2 ships of the line damaged
9 merchant ships captured
4 merchant ships destroyed

The Battle of Martinique, or Combat de la Martinique, was a naval encounter on 18 December 1779 between a British 13-ship squadron under Admiral Hyde Parker and a three-ship French division under Admiral Lamotte-Picquet near the island of Martinique in the West Indies.

In order to cover the retreat of a convoy under Joseph de Flotte chased by the British, the lone 74-gun Annibal, under Lamotte-Picquet. For 90 minutes, Annibal single-handedly engaged the British squadron to block its advance, before she was joined by the two 64-guns, Vengeur and Réfléchi.[2] Ten to 11 of the transports were taken by the British or beached themselves to avoid capture, but the rest of the convoy of the escorting frigate Aurore managed to escape, and the division returned to its anchorage. Hyde Parker wrote Lamotte-Picquet a congratulation letter in the following days.[3]

  1. ^ Mahan, Alfred Thayer (2013). The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence. BoD – Books on Demand. pp. 128–9. ISBN 9783954273393.
  2. ^ La Monneraye (1998), p. 148.
  3. ^ La Monneraye (1998), p. 151.

Developed by StudentB