Raid on Genoa

Raid on Genoa
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Massacre de l'equipage de la Modeste, Nicolas Ozanne
Date 5 October 1793 Location Genoa, Republic of Genoa 44°24′33″N 08°55′32″E / 44.40917°N 8.92556°E / 44.40917; 8.92556 Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
John Gell	Unknown
Strength
2 ships of the line 1 brig-sloop	1 frigate 2 tartanes
Casualties and losses
None	1 killed 10 wounded 1 frigate captured 2 tartanes captured

The Raid on Genoa was a minor naval engagement fought in the harbour of the Italian city of Genoa during the first year of the French Revolutionary Wars. French Republican forces in the Mediterranean, under pressure from Austrian and Spanish armies, Royalist uprisings and British blockade had suffered the loss of their principal naval base and the fleet stationed there when British forces under Lord Hood seized Toulon at the invitation of the city's Royalist faction. The survivors of the French fleet were scattered across the Mediterranean, several sheltering in neutral Italian harbours, including the frigates Modeste at Genoa and Impérieuse at Leghorn.

To eliminate the threat these isolated frigates posed, Hood ordered a squadron under Rear-Admiral John Gell to investigate the harbour at Genoa. The squadron arrived on 5 October and discovered Modeste and two smaller warships at anchor. Later in the day, three ships of the squadron launched their ship's boats and instigated a boarding action against the anchored ships, in defiance of Genoese neutrality. The French crews resisted, but the British boarding parties successfully captured all three vessels without suffering any casualties. Six days later the detached HMS Captain also seized the abandoned Impérieuse, which had fled to La Spezia. The action had strategic consequences: the Republican faction in Genoa was strong and they successfully barred Austrian reinforcements from sailing to join the Allied garrison at the developing siege of Toulon. The outnumbered defenders of the port were overwhelmed and driven into the sea by a Republican assault on 17 December.