Action of 18 June 1793 1793
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 18 June 1793 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1793 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: Europe) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French Revolutionary Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | France, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.2150, -3.5820 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The action of 18 June 1793 was an encounter between British and French frigates during the War of the First Coalition. The action occurred off Start Point in Devon, when the British frigate HMS Nymphe encountered and chased the French frigate Cléopâtre. During the previous month, Cléopâtre and another frigate, Sémillante, had been successfully raiding British merchant shipping in the English Channel and Eastern Atlantic from their base at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. In response, the British frigates Nymphe and HMS Venus had been ordered to intercept and defeat the French frigates and on 27 May Venus and Sémillante fought an inconclusive engagement off Cape Finisterre.
On 17 June, Nymphe was cruising alone off the Devon coast under Captain Edward Pellew when a sail appeared to the south east. Closing to investigate, Pellew rapidly identified the ship as Cléopâtre and gave chase, the French frigate initially fleeing but Captain Jean Mullon then turning to fight as Nymphe began to overtake his ship. At 06:15, with both crews cheering loudly, the frigates exchanged broadsides, the action lasting 50 minutes. Both ships fought hard, but at 07:10 the British crew were able to successfully board the French frigate and haul down the tricolour.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Action of 18 June 1793 (revision 1370426091), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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