Action of 6 November 1794 1794
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 6 November 1794 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1794 | 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 | 48.4167, -7.8833 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The action of 6 November 1794 (Known in French as the Combat du 16 Brumaire an III) was a naval engagement during the War of the First Coalition. Two Royal Navy ships of the line, HMS Alexander and HMS Canada were intercepted while returning to Britain through the Celtic Sea by a large French squadron. The French squadron had sailed from Brest, France in search of an inward bound British convoy in October, but instead encountered the two British ships returning from escorting an outward-bound convoy. There had been no warning of the French approach as the British force assigned to watch Brest was absent at Plymouth due to the policy of operating a distant blockade.
The British ships separated and attempted to escape, but the French commander Contre-amiral Joseph-Marie Nielly simply split his forces in response and, although Canada was eventually able to outrun pursuit, Alexander was slower and was caught by several French ships in succession. The first two opponents were driven off, but the third succeeded in coming alongside and, in a fierce and close fought duel, compelled Captain Richard Rodney Bligh to surrender his ship in the face of overwhelming odds.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Action of 6 November 1794 (revision 1370426729), 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.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Ushant (1778) 1778 · 40 km
- Action of 24 October 1793 1793 · 159 km
- Battle of Pierres Noires 1944 · 221 km
- Battle of Saint-Mathieu 1512 · 230 km
- Battle of the Raz de Sein 1798 · 234 km
- Frigate action of 29 May 1794 1794 · 239 km
Other battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Battle of Vihiers 1793
- Battle of Wattignies 1793
- Siege of Dunkirk (1793) 1793
- Siege of Lyon 1793
- Siege of Pondicherry (1793) 1793
- Action of 7 May 1794 1794
- Battle of Boxtel 1794
- Battle of Martinique (1794) 1794
- Battle of Mykonos 1794
- Battle of Sprimont 1794
All 81 battles of the French Revolutionary Wars →
Browse more: battles at sea · Europe · Early modern battles