Sea battle at Tory Island

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A map of a large beige island set in a blue sea with a red cross off the northwestern shoreline
Map of Ireland with ToryIsland and the location of the sea battle

The naval battle of Tory Island (also known as the Battle of Donegal , Battle of Lough Swilly ) was a military conflict as part of the First Coalition War , on October 12, 1798 between a French and British naval squadron on the north-west coast of County Donegal in Ireland . The battle is often seen as the final act of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 . It was also the last attempt by the French Navy to land soldiers in Ireland to support the rebels.

prehistory

The Society of United Irishmen , led by Theobald Wolfe Tone , had started an uprising against British rule in advance in May 1798. At the request of the rebels, a small French force under General Humbert was landed at Killala . However, by mid-September this division was defeated as the rebellion weakened.

Despite the defeat of the French expedition, the French under Commodore Bompart sent further reinforcements on September 16. The French fleet consisted of the ships:

  • High (74)
  • Immortality (46)
  • Romaine (46)
  • Loire (46)
  • Bellons (36)
  • Coquille (36)
  • Embuscade (36)
  • Resolue (36)
  • Semillante (36)
  • and the schooner Biche

A 3,000-strong force was on board.

Conquest of the French frigate Immortailité by HMS Fisgard (38) on October 20, 1798. In the sea battle, the French lost 57 dead and 60 wounded.
Painting by Thomas Whitcombe (1760–1824)

The Royal Navy , for its part, was on high alert after allowing an invasion. When the French relief fleet left Brest, it was soon sighted by the British.

course

After a long chase, the French fleet was stopped at Tory Island on October 12th. During this operation the defeated French tried to flee, but were caught up and taken apart ship by ship. The British captured four ships. The escaping French ships were dispersed.

The British squadron consisted of the ships:

Over the next two weeks, British frigate patrols combed the passage to Brest and captured three other ships. Of the original ten ships of the French squadron, only two frigates and one schooner made it home. British casualties in the battle of October 12th were 13 dead and 75 wounded, while the French lost 450. Theobald Wolfe Tone was found on board the captured French flagship and arrested. He was later sentenced to death for high treason.

literature

  • Richard Brooks: Cassell's battlefields of Britain & Ireland . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2005, ISBN 0-304-36333-2 .
  • Robert Gardener (Ed.): Nelson against Napoleon. From the Nile to Copenhagen, 1798-1801 . Chatham Books, London 1997, ISBN 1-55750-642-6 .
  • James Henderson: The Frigates. An account of the lesser warships of the wars from 1793 to 1815 . Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2005, ISBN 1-84415-301-0 . (Reprint of the London 1970 edition)
  • William James: The naval history of Great Britain during the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Vol. 2: 1797-1799 . Conway Maritime Press, London 2002, ISBN 0-85177-906-9 (reprint of the London 1827 edition).
  • Digby Smith : The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book . Greenhill, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The British Navy, p. 328.
  2. ^ The British Navy, p. 330.