Raid on Dunkirk (1800) 1800
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 7 July 1800 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1800 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French Revolutionary Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | France, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 51.0569, 2.3525 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The raid on Dunkirk was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well-defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel on 7 July 1800 during the War of the Second Coalition. French Navy forces had been blockaded in their harbours during the conflict, and often the only method of attacking them was through fireships or "cutting-out" expeditions, in which boats would carry boarding parties into the harbour at night, seize ships at anchor and bring them out. The attack on Dunkirk was a combination of both of these types of operation, aimed at a powerful French frigate squadron at anchor in Dunkirk harbour. The assault made use of a variety of experimental weaponry, some of which was tested in combat for the first time with mixed success.
Although assault by the heavily armed sloop HMS Dart proved successful, the fireships achieved little and various other British craft involved in the operation had little effect on the eventual outcome. The French response was disorganised and ineffectual, losing one frigate captured. Three others were almost destroyed, only escaping by cutting their anchor cables and fleeing into the coastal shoals where they ran aground.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Raid on Dunkirk (1800) (revision 1370705737), 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
- Dunkirk evacuation 1940 · 0 km
- Battle of Dunkirk 1940 · 2 km
- Siege of Dunkirk (1793) 1793 · 3 km
- Siege of Dunkirk (1944–1945) 1944 · 3 km
- Siege of Dunkirk (1658) 1658 · 3 km
- Siege of Dunkirk (1646) 1646 · 3 km
Other battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Siege of Malta (1798–1800) 1798
- Action of 9 February 1799 (South Africa) 1799
- 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
- Battle of the Malta Convoy 1800
- Action of 19 February 1801 1801
- Battle of Mandora 1801
All 81 battles of the French Revolutionary Wars →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · 19th century battles