Bayonnaise and HMS Ambuscade in skirmish 1798

[Anatol]

The stamp 1,0 riyal depicts fragment of the painting Louis-Philippe Crépin: HMS Ambuscade VS Bayonnaise.
The Action of 14 December 1798 was a naval skirmish between the 32-gun British frigate,HMS Ambuscade , and the French 24-gun corvette Bayonnaise. Vastly outgunned and outmanoeuvered, Bayonnaise boarded and captured HMS Ambuscade .
On 14 December, as she sailed about 30 nm off Ré, Bayonnaise met the 32-gun frigate HMSAmbuscade , cruising off Oléron under captain Henry Jenkins.
Ambuscade was waiting to meet with HMS Stag and blockade the Gironde estuary .Bayonnaise was a 24-gun corvette laden with a strong crew augmented by a 40-soldier party of the régiment d'Alsace , under Army captain Nicolas Aimé.
At dawn, Ambuscade detected Bayonnaise and assumed she was HMS Stag ; Bayonnaisealso detected Ambuscade , and, correctly assuming that she was a superior British warship, turned around to flee. From this manoeuver, Ambuscade understood that the sail was French and gave chase. Around noon, Ambuscade had closed in to cannon range, and fight broke out.
After one hour, the British had gained the upper hand, damaging the hull and rigging of the corvette. As Ambuscade came off the stern of Bayonnaise in an attempt to rake her, one of the starboard 12-pounders of the frigate exploded. The explosion destroyed the boats ofAmbuscade , left 13 of her sailors dead and wounded, and confused the crew. Bayonnaiseattempted to take advantage of the confusion to escape South, but Ambuscade gave chase again and caught on the corvette around 3 PM.
As the frigate sailed on the port of the corvette on a parallel course, overtaking her, Bayonnaiseslowed down and turned hard to her left, and rammed Ambuscade . The bowsprit ofBayonnaise cut down Ambuscade 's mizzen , wounding part of the crew standing on the poop deck , and entangling the two ships.
Both ships fired a last broadside and closed their gun ports. Bayonnaise lost numerous men, and her captain, Richer, had an arm shot off.Nevertheless, the French brought their ships to the frigate, and cleared her deck with grapeshots and musketry fire from her tops. The British officers were wounded and taken below deck, leaving only ailing lieutenant Joseph Briggs in command. Having attached the corvette to the frigate, the French used their bowsprit to bridge the gap between the ships and climb onto the taller Ambuscade .
The French boarded and seized a grapeshot-loaded light gun, which they used to clear the forecastle of its defenders. The rear castle of Ambuscadesuffered the explosion of an ammunition box which destroyed the wheel and the aft boat. After a bloody, 30-minute melee, purser William Beaumont Murray, last British officer still standing, surrendered Ambuscade . The battle had caused 15 killed and 39 wounded to Ambuscade , including Jenkins and his two lieutenants, and 25 killed and 30 wounded on Bayonnaise , including Richer and his lieutenant.
Bayonnaise had lost almost all of her rigging, was leaking and had her rudder damaged. Ambuscade had lost her mizzen mast and sustained damage from explosions on board, but was otherwise intact and sea worthy. Ambuscade tugged Bayonnaise to Pertuis d'Antioche and Rochefort. They arrived the next day. Ambuscade was taken into French service as Embuscade .
Lieutenant de vaisseau Richer was promoted to capitaine de vaisseau (jumping three ranks), and the ensigns of Bayonnaise , Corbie, Frouin, Guigner, Kinzelbach and Potier de la Houssaye, were promoted toLieutenant de vaisseau .
Ras al Khaima 1,0 riyal;SG ?
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