Bombardment of Salé (1851) 1851
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 26 November 1851 – 27 November 1851 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1851 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Morocco | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Franco–Moroccan conflicts | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | France, Morocco | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 34.0400, -6.8300 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Bombardment of Salé was a French naval attack against the Moroccan city of Salé that took place between 26 and 27 November 1851. After seven hours of fighting, the Moroccan artillery suffered severe damage, and the French bombarded the city through the night, damaging the city's infrastructure and the Great Mosque of Salé.
The bombardment occurred outside any state of war, and regarded an incident from 1 April 1851 in which the residents of Salé looted a cache of goods which had been rescued from a capsized French merchant ship. The French requested repayment, the Moroccans did not respond. In late November, a French squadron sailed to the city to demand repayment, else they would bombard the city. The Moroccans did not acquiesce, and both sides prepared for battle. The French opened fire on the morning of 26 November. During seven hours of clashes, the Moroccan artillery of Salé supported by that of Rabat and led by the Abdelhadi Zniber suffered significant damage. The French squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Louis Dubourdieu bombarded the city until the next day, seriously damaging the city's infrastructure, including the Great Mosque which was seriously affected.
French losses were minimal, with only four dead and 18 wounded. Conversely, 18 to 22 Moroccans died and 47 were wounded, two-thirds of whom were civilians.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Bombardment of Salé (1851) (revision 1374542810), 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 Salé 1260 · 2 km
- Battle of Port Lyautey 1942 · 30 km
- Naval Battle of Casablanca 1942 · 90 km
- Battle of Alcácer Quibir 1578 · 138 km
- Siege of Larache (1689) 1689 · 142 km
- Larache expedition 1765 · 142 km
Other battles of the Franco–Moroccan conflicts
- Larache expedition 1765
- Battle of El-Moungar 1903
All 3 battles of the Franco–Moroccan conflicts →
Browse more: battles in Morocco · Africa · 19th century battles