Action of 24 June 1795

The action of 24 June 1795 was a minor naval engagement fought in the Western Basin of the Mediterranean Sea on 24 June 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars. During 1795 the Royal Navy and French Navy Mediterranean Fleets were vying for supremacy in the region, the French operating from the fortified port of Toulon and the British from the allied Spanish base of Port Mahon on Menorca. A minor British victory at the Battle of Genoa in March had not resolved the conflict, both sides suffering damage. The British, under Admiral William Hotham, subsequently withdrew to Menorca to meet a squadron of reinforcements while the French, under '' Contre-amiral'' Pierre Martin at Toulon, suffering from ill-discipline, had also been reinforced. By June, both fleets were ready to return to the Ligurian Sea.

To scout their opponents, Hotham at Menorca and Martin at Toulon both sent out small frigate squadrons to determine whether the enemy fleets were at sea. Hotham sent the small frigates HMS ''Dido'' and HMS ''Lowestoffe'' and Martin the larger ''Minerve'' and ''Artémise''. On 24 June, at almost the midpoint between the two naval bases, these scouting squadrons encountered one another. Although the French initially retreated, once it became clear that their opponents were noticeably smaller they wore round and attacked.

Under fire, ''Minerve'' attempted to ram ''Dido''. Manoeuvering to avoid destruction, Captain George Henry Towry turned aside and instead found his rigging impaled on the French ship's bowsprit. After 15 minutes of hand-to-hand combat, the French bowsprit shattered under the strain. ''Dido'' too was left badly damaged, but the delay allowed ''Lowestoffe'' to come up and rake ''Minerve'', causing such severe damage that the French ship was rendered unmanageable. On seeing his companion in this situation, Captain Charbonnier of ''Artémise'', which had played an ineffectual part in the combat, withdrew, briefly and distantly pursued by ''Lowestoffe''. Isolated and immobile, ''Minerve'' was then battered into surrender by ''Lowestoffe''. The captured frigate was commissioned into the Royal Navy under the same name, and served until she was recaptured by the French at the action of 2 July 1803.

Background

In the summer of 1795 the Mediterranean theatre of the French Revolutionary Wars was contested by significant fleets from the Royal Navy and French Navy. The French Mediterranean Fleet, based in the fortified port of Toulon had been badly damaged during the chaotic final days of the siege of Toulon in the autumn of 1793, and had required almost a year to repair and refit.Gardiner, p.105 The British Mediterranean Fleet, commanded from late 1794 by Vice-Admiral William Hotham, had maintained a blockade on the port, operating from the allied Spanish base at Port Mahon on Menorca and, more distantly, from Gibraltar. British efforts in 1794 were focused on capturing the island of Corsica through sieges at Bastia, Calvi and San Fiorenzo. After a determined resistance the last French stronghold on the island fell on 10 August.Gardiner, p.110

In February 1795 the French Mediterranean Fleet was again in suitable condition for offensive operations, 15 ships of the line sailing for an attack on Corsica. Under '' Contre-amiral'' Pierre Martin, this fleet successfully captured the British 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Berwick'' at the action of 8 March 1795, but was defeated by Hotham's fleet at the Battle of Genoa on 14 March, losing two ships and retreating to the French coast.Gardiner, p.116 In the aftermath of the battle the British fleet was hit by a storm off La Spezia and the 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Illustrious'' was wrecked, Hotham gathering his surviving ships first at San Fiorenzo and then Leghorn, before sailing to Menorca in early June to meet with a large squadron of reinforcements from the Channel Fleet under Rear-Admiral Robert Mann. Meanwhile, Martin reconstituted his scattered force in the shelter of the Hyères Islands. In April he was joined by a large squadron of reinforcements from the French Atlantic Fleet, but any immediate operations were postponed by a strike action by the sailors of his fleet in May. Once this had been resolved, Martin put to sea once more on 7 June.James, Vol.1, p.266

The location of the enemy was an urgent priority for both admirals, and each dispatched a small squadron of two frigates in search of the rival fleet. Hotham sent the small 28-gun 12-pounder HMS ''Dido'' under Captain George Henry Towry and the 32-gun HMS ''Lowestoffe'' under Captain Robert Gambier Middleton with instructions to scout Toulon and the Hyères Islands and determine whether Martin was still at anchor. Martin sent the larger 40-gun frigate ''Minerve'' under Captain Jean-Baptiste Perrée and the 36-gun ''Artémise'' under Captain Charbonnier with orders to search the seas around Menorca for Hotham's fleet.James, Vol.1, p.289

Action

At 04:00 on 24 June, at position , almost the midpoint between Menorca and Toulon, the frigate squadrons sighted one another. ''Dido'', the leading British ship, sent coded signals to the French, who failed to answer, confirming their nationality. As the British advanced, the French tacked away, and rapidly outdistanced the British ships. At 08:00 however with visibility improving, the diminutive size of the British ships became apparent and the French squadron turned back and bore down on ''Dido'' and ''Lowestoffe''. At 08:30, ''Minerve'' was close enough to ''Dido'' to fire a broadside, although Towry elected not to return fire until ''Minerve'' had closed further. By 08:45 he had successfully manoeuvered into a position in front of Perrée's bow and fired at close range.

Seeing the smaller ship directly in front of him, the French captain spread all sail and threw ''Minerve'' forwards, attempting to ram ''Dido'' amidships. If the attack had been successful, ''Dido'' would likely have been crushed by the weight of the larger frigate, but Towry was able to respond by throwing the wheel hard to port and turning away from the blow.Clowes, p.492 The frigates were so close that ''Minerve''s bowsprit became tangled in the rigging of ''Dido''s mizenmast. The effect was to throw ''Dido'' hard against ''Minerve''s starboard bow and lift the smaller ship almost out of the water, her weight suspended from ''Minerve''s bowsprit.James, Vol.1, p.290 Covered by cannon fire from the forward 18-pounder long guns and heavy musketry, the French crew attempted to scramble along the bowsprit and onto ''Dido''s deck, the boarding action prevented by sailors armed with pikes. The attack was dangerous, wave action causing the suspended ''Dido'' to slam repeatedly against the hull of ''Minerve'', and at approximately 9:00 the bowsprit finally snapped under the strain, fatally plunging at least eight French sailors attempting to board ''Dido'' into the gap between the ships. It also dislodged ''Dido''s mizenmast, which collapsed.

As the crews cut their ships free of the wreckage ''Minerve'' and ''Dido'' scraped alongside one another, their cannon opening fire once more at point blank range. The greater height of the French ship conferred an unexpected advantage as its higher spars ripped ''Dido''s topsails off her masts, allowing ''Minerve'' to pull away from the British ship. At this stage ''Lowestoffe'', which had been hitherto prevented from joining the combat by the position of ''Dido'', now arrived off ''Minerve''s bow and opened fire from close range. In less than eight minutes this raking fire had brought the foremast and the main and mizen topmasts crashing to the deck, rendering ''Minerve'' unable to manoeuvre. As this combat developed, ''Artémise'' had passed by at some distance, opening an ineffectual fire. Seeing that ''Minerve'' was badly damaged, Captain Charbonnier turned his ship and retreated northwards. Seeing the French ship withdraw, Towry ordered Middleton to pursue, ''Lowestoffe'' breaking off action with ''Minerve'' at 09:15 and chasing ''Artémise'', which opened fire with its stern-chasers, damaging ''Lowestoffe''s mizenmast. Middleton replied with his own bow-chasers, but they had little effect and the faster ''Artémise'' soon pulled away from ''Lowestoffe''. At 10:30 the chase was abandoned and Middleton returned to the isolated and battered ''Minerve''.Clowes, p.493

Although he was now alone with no hope of escape, Perrée had not struck his colours. Middleton was however able to bring ''Lowestoffe'' close to Perrée's stern and resume his raking fire. At 11:45, with his mizenmast smashed overboard and ''Dido'' slowly approaching, the French captain acknowledged the inevitable and hailed Middleton that he had surrendered.James, Vol.1, p.291 ''Artémise'' was still distantly in sight, but made no attempt to intervene in the final stage of the battle. British casualties amounted to six killed and 13 wounded on ''Dido'' and three wounded on ''Lowestoffe''. Losses on ''Minerve'' were not accurately recorded, but were believed to be approximately 30 killed and wounded, including those who were killed after falling from the bowsprit into the gap between ''Dido'' and ''Lowestoffe''. Casualties on ''Artémise'' were thought to be negligible.

Squadrons

In this table, "Guns" refers to all cannon on the ship, including the maindeck guns that formed the basis for calculating its rate, as well as any carronades the ship carried.James, Vol.1, p.32 "Broadside weight" refers to the total weight of shot which the ship could fire in a single simultaneous discharge of an entire broadside.

Aftermath

The damage to ''Dido''s masts necessitated abandoning the mission and retiring to Port Mahon with the captured ''Minerve''. Information obtained from prisoners determined however that the French fleet had sailed from Toulon and were at sea. As soon as the squadron reached port on 27 June, Towry ordered the cutter HMS ''Fox'' to take a report to Hotham's fleet, which was anchored off the Tour de Mortella on Corsica. Hotham then sent Captain Horatio Nelson to scout for the French fleet off Genoa with ship of the line HMS ''Agamemnon'' and a small squadron. On 7 July he discovered Martin's force, and ''Agamemnon'' retreated back to Hotham's fleet with the French in pursuit. On 8 July Hotham sailed to meet them, and on 13 July the Battle of the Hyères Islands resulted in a minor British victory, with one French ship sunk, and Martin retired to Toulon.Gardiner, p.117 Although a squadron sailed for the Atlantic in September, the main Toulon fleet did not leave harbour again during the course of the year.James, Vol.1, p.276

British historian William James calls the engagement "a gallantly fought action on the part of the British". He cites Towry's decision to attack ''Minerve'' with ''Dido'' as "noble in the extreme", pointing out that ''Minerve'' was almost twice the size of the British ship and carried more than 120 additional crew. James also considered that had ''Artémise'' participated fully in the engagement then ''Dido'' would certainly have been captured by the French squadron. On returning to Toulon, Captain Charbonnier faced a court-martial for his failure to support Perrée, but was ultimately acquitted.

''Minerve'' was repaired at Port Mahon and then Ajaccio, subsequently commissioned into the Mediterranean Fleet under the same name with Towry in command. ''Minerve'' remained an active warship in the Royal Navy until she was recaptured by the French off Cherbourg-en-Cotentin at the action of 2 July 1803.James, Vol.3, p.190 In the aftermath of the engagement the first lieutenants of both British ships were promoted to commander, and more than five decades after the battle the Admiralty recognised the action with the clasps "DIDO 24 JUNE 1795" and "LOWESTOFFE 24 JUNE 1795" attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.

References

Bibliography

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* {{cite book
, last = James
, first = William
, year = 2002
, orig-year= 1827
, title = The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 3, 1800–1805
, publisher = Conway Maritime Press
, location = London
, isbn = 0-85177-907-7

Naval battles involving France
Naval battles involving Great Britain
Naval battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
Conflicts in 1795