Naval Battle of St. Kitts

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Naval Battle of St. Kitts
Course of the battle
Course of the battle
date January 25th and 26th, 1782
place at the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis , West Indies
output British victory in the sea battle
French victory on St. Kitts
Parties to the conflict

Great Britain kingdomKingdom of Great Britain Great Britain

France Kingdom 1792France France

Commander

Samuel Hood

Comte de Grasse

Troop strength
22 ships of the line 26 ships of the line
losses

72 dead,
244 wounded

107 dead
204 wounded
1 ship captured

The naval battle at St. Kitts took place on January 25 and 26, 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear Admiral Samuel Hood and a French fleet under Admiral Comte de Grasse .

background

When Hood came back to the West Indies (Caribbean Islands) at the end of 1781 after the Battle of Chesapeake , he was the commander in chief due to Rodney's absence as the highest ranking officer. On January 11, 1782, French troops landed on St. Kitts Island and trapped British troops. De Grasse covered the action with 26 ships of the line .

The battle

Naval battle of St. Kitts, January 25 and 26, 1782. The French squadron under Count de Grasse against Admiral Hood after the landing of the French troops of the Marquis de Bouille. (Painting by Thomas Maynard, 1783)

On January 25, Hood was able to take up position with his 22 ships of the line between the French squadron and the island. The French attacked while his ships were still at anchor in the harbor. However, after the incoming French ships received the full broadsides of the English, de Grasse broke off the fight.

On the morning of January 26th, the French tried again. Again the top ships received the full broadsides of the British and were badly hit. After another unsuccessful attempt, de Grasse finally broke off the attack. Since the British troops surrendered on St. Kitts during the day, Hood left his position unnoticed during the night and joined the fleet of Admiral Rodney, which had returned from England.

Although Hood's attempt to prevent the capture of St. Kitts failed, his January 25th maneuver was one of the most brilliant of the war.

Combined with Rodney's fleet, a force superior to the French emerged, which consequently was victorious in the naval battle of Les Saintes .

meaning

The real importance of this naval battle is often underestimated. There is a similarity with the sea ​​battle at Abukir . A fleet anchored in a bay is attacked. While at Abukir the British approached the French line at a relatively shallow angle, Hood at St. Kitts prevented this with his clever positioning, and the incoming French were exposed to the British broadsides - without being able to attack themselves for the time being. Hood was later not only Nelson's commander and promoter, but also his friend and mentor.

Order of battle on January 25, 1782

Great Britain

Admiral Sir Samuel Hood's fleet
ship rank Cannons commander losses Remarks
killed wounded All in all
Top management
HMS St Albans 3rd rank 64 Captain Charles Inglis 0 0 0
HMS Alcide 3rd rank 74 Captain Charles Thompson 2 4th 6th
HMS Intrepid 3rd rank 64 Captain Anthony James Pye Molloy 2 0 2
HMS Torbay 3rd rank 74 Captain Lewis Gedoin 0 0 0
HMS Princessa 3rd rank 70 Rear Admiral Francis Samuel Drake
Captain Charles Knatchbull 		2 4th 6th Flagship of the top management
HMS Prince George 2nd rank 98 Captain James Williams 1 3 4th
HMS Ajax 3rd rank 74 Captain Nicholas Charrington 1 12 13
center
HMS Prince William 3rd rank 64 Captain George Wilkinson 0 3 3
HMS Shrewsbury 3rd rank 74 Captain John Knight 3 7th 10
HMS Invincible 3rd rank 74 Captain Charles Saxton 0 2 2
HMS Barfleur 2nd rank 98 Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood
Captain Alexander Hood 		9 24 33 Flagship of the center
HMS Monarch 3rd rank 74 Captain Francis Reynolds 2 2 4th
HMS Belliqueux 3rd rank 64 Captain Lord Cranstoun 5 7th 12
HMS Centaur 3rd rank 74 Captain John Nicholson Inglefield 0 12 12
HMS Alfred 3rd rank 74 Captain William Bayne 2 20th 2 Collided on January 24, 1782 with the HMS Nymph (14 cannons), which then had to return to Antigua. The HMS Alfred could be repaired.
The End
HMS Russell 3rd rank 74 Captain Henry Edwyn Stanhope 8th 29 37
HMS resolution 3rd rank 74 Captain Lord Robert Manners 5 11 16
HMS Bedford 3rd rank 74 Commodore Edmund Affleck
Captain Thomas Graves 		2 15th 17th Flagship of the end
HMS Canada 3rd rank 74 Captain William Cornwallis 1 12 13
HMS Prudent 3rd rank 64 Captain Andrew Barclay 18th 36 54
HMS Montagu 3rd rank 74 Captain George Bowen 7th 23 30th
HMS America 3rd rank 64 Captain Samuel Thompson 1 17th 18th
Assigned frigates
Top management
HMS Eurydice 6th rank 20th Captain George Wilson 0 0 0
center
HMS Pegasus 6th rank 28 Captain John Stanhope 0 0 0
HMS Fortunee 6th rank 28 Captain Hugh Cloberry Christian 0 0 0
HMS Lizard 6th rank 28 Captain Edmund Dod 0 0 0 Captured the L'Espion, a supply ship with 18 cannons, on January 24, 1782
HMS Champion 6th rank 20th Captain Thomas Wells 1 1 2 Signal repetition
HMS Convert 5th rank 32 Captain Henry Harvey 0 0 0
HMS Triton 6th rank 28 Captain John M'Lawrin 0 0 0
The End
HMS Sibyl 6th rank 28 Captain John Norton 0 0 0
HMS Solebay 6th rank 28 Captain Charles Holmes Everett 0 0 0 was pushed aside by a French frigate and ran aground, abandoned by crew and set on fire
Total casualties: 72 killed, 244 wounded, 1 ship
Source: Isaac Schomberg: Naval Chronology , Volume 4, 1802, pp. 396-7

France

Admiral Comte de Grasse's fleet
ship rank Cannons commander Remarks
Sovereign 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Chevalier de Glandevès
Hercule 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Chadeau de Laclocheterie
Languedoc 2nd rank 80 Capitaine Baron d'Arros d'Argelos
Duc de Bourgogne 2nd rank 80 Lieutenant-General M. Espinouse
Capitaine de Champmartin
Marseillais 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Henri-César de Castellane Majastre
Jason 3rd rank 64 Capitaine Chevalier Couète de Villages
Magnanime 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Comte Le Bègue
Zélé 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Chevalier de Gras-Préville
Éveillé 3rd rank 64 Capitaine Comte Le Gardeur de Tilly
Saint-Esprit 2nd rank 80 Capitaine Marquis de Charbert
Scepter 3rd rank 74 Captain Louis-Philippe de Vaudreuil
Ville de Paris 1st rank 104 Lieutenant-général François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Capitaine de Sainte-Césaire
César 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Coriolis d'Espinouse
Northumberland 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Marquis de Briqueville
Diademe 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Louis-Augustin de Monteclerc
Glorieux 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Vicomte d'Escars
Citizens 3rd rank 74 Captain Comte d'Ethy
Scipion 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Dassas
Ardent 3rd rank 64 Capitaine Chevalier Charles-René Bernard de Marigny
Neptune 3rd rank 74 Captain Renaud d'Aleins
Auguste 2nd rank 80 Chef d'escadre Louis Antoine de Bougainville
Capitaine de Castellan
Bourgogne 3rd rank 74 Capitaine Chevalier de Charitte
Pluton 3rd rank 74 Capitaine François Hector d'Albert de Rions
Caton 3rd rank 64 Capitaine Comte de Fremond
Sagittaire 4th rank 50 Capitaine de Montluc
experiment 4th rank 50 Chevalier de Médine
Total casualties: 107 killed, 204 wounded, 1 ship
Source: Onésime-Joachim Troude: Bataille navales de la France , ainé Challamel, 1867, vol.2 , page 215

Order of battle on January 26, 1782

The British ships lay in an L-shape in front of Frigate Bay, cutting off the French ships from the French troops. The tip was at the southern end of the bay. The other ships anchored in a line west of the first ship. After HMS Barfleur , the row of ships bent at an obtuse angle to the north in the direction of Basseterre .

Order: HMS Bedford , HMS Russell , HMS Montagu , HMS St Albans , HMS Alcide , HMS America , HMS Intrepid , HMS Torbay , HMS Princessa , HMS Prince George , HMS Ajax , HMS Prince William , HMS Shrewsbury , HMS Invincible , HMS Barfleur , HMS Monarch , HMS Centaur , HMS Belliqueux , HMS Resolution , HMS Prudent , HMS Canada , HMS Alfred

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Isaac Schomberg: Naval Chronology , Volume 4, 1802, pp. 396-7 (online)