Action of 9 February 1799 (South Africa) 1799
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 9 February 1799 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1799 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: Africa) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French Revolutionary Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | France, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -32.3333, 33.3333 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The action of 9 February 1799 was a minor naval engagement of the East Indies theatre of the French Revolutionary Wars between a Royal Navy frigate and a French privateer frigate fought 100 nautical miles (190 km) west of the southeastern coast of what is now Natal in South Africa. The 32-gun French frigate Prudente had since the start of the war been part of a squadron operating from Île de France (now Mauritius). This squadron had dispersed during 1798, with the ships sent on independent commerce raiding operations across the British trade routes in the Indian Ocean. Prudente had subsequently been seized in the autumn of that year by Anne Joseph Hippolyte de Maurès, Comte de Malartic, the Governor of Île de France, and sold to a private raiding company.
In early 1799 Prudente was operating off South Africa, attacking British trade passing to or from the Cape Colony when the ship was discovered by British frigate HMS Daedalus under Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball. Prudente turned away and Ball gave chase, following the French ship closely. After five hours Daedalus caught Prudente and fired a raking broadside into the stern, disabling the French ship. For another hour the action continued at close range until Prudente was forced to surrender.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Action of 9 February 1799 (South Africa) (revision 1370426808), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Congella 1842 · 353 km
- Action of 21 April 1806 1806 · 355 km
Other battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Battle of Tory Island 1798
- Battle of the Pyramids 1798
- Battle of the Raz de Sein 1798
- Battle of the Îles Saint-Marcouf 1798
- Siege of Malta (1798–1800) 1798
- Battle of Bergen (1799) 1799
- Battle of Verona (1799) 1799
- Macau Incident (1799) 1799
- Action of 31 March 1800 1800
- Battle of Ampfing (1800) 1800
All 81 battles of the French Revolutionary Wars →
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