The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was fought between 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear-Admiral of the Blue Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet under François Joseph Paul de Grasse.
Background
When Rear-Admiral of the Blue Sir Samuel Hood returned to the West Indies in late 1781 after the Battle of the Chesapeake, he was for a time in independent command owing to Admiral of the White Sir George Rodney's absence in England. The French admiral, François Joseph Paul de Grasse, attacked the British islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis with 7,000 troops and 50 warships, including the 110-gun Ville de Paris. He started by besieging the British fortress on Brimstone Hill on 11 January 1782. Hoping to salvage the situation, Hood made for Saint Kitts by departing Antigua on 22 January with 22 ships of the line, compared to de Grasse's 36.
Battle
The British fleet on 24 January consisted of 22 sail of the line, and was close off the southeast end of Nevis. They ran into and captured the French 16-gun cutter Espion, which carried a large amount of ammunition for the besieging French forces at Brimstone Hill.
At daybreak on 25 January, the French fleet was discovered having stood to the southward of Basseterre, consisting of a 110-gun ship, 28 two-decked ships, and two frigates. Hood stood towards the French fleet with the apparent intention of bringing on action, and effectively drew the French fleet off the land. As soon as Hood effected this maneuver, he was aided by a favorable change in wind and was able to guide his fleet within the anchorage of Basseterre, which the French admiral had just quit. Hood ordered his fleet in an L-formation and then ordered his fleet to lay anchor. De Grasse made three distinct attacks upon the British fleet on 26 January but was repulsed.
The Pluton, commanded by D'Albert de Rions, led the French line, "receiving the crashing broadside of ship after ship until the splintered planking flew from her off side and her rigging hung in a tangled mass." Chauvent goes on to describe the battle as "...a sulphurous hell, with cannon vomiting forth flame and death." The entire battle lasted from 7:00 am to 6:30 pm, with the major action in the afternoon.
Aftermath
Damage on both sides was heavy, though the French suffered higher casualties. However, Hood was unable to stop the French and could only observe the land action. After the successful French siege of Brimstone Hill, Saint Kitts and Nevis both surrendered on 12 February. Hood left on the 14th and joined forces with the recently arrived Rodney.
Order of battle Britain +Admiral Sir Samuel Hood's fleetIsaac Schomberg, Naval Chronology, pp. 396–7 Ship Rate Guns Commander Casualties Notes Killed Wounded TotalVan Third rate 64 Captain Charles Inglis Third rate 74 Captain Charles Thompson Third rate 64 Captain Anthony James Pye Molloy HMS Torbay Third rate 74 Captain John Lewis Gidoin Third rate 70 Rear-Admiral Francis Samuel DrakeCaptain Charles Knatchbull Flagship of van Second rate 98 Captain James Williams Third rate 74 Captain Nicholas Charrington Centre Third rate 64 Captain George Wilkinson Third rate 74 Captain John Knight Third rate 74 Captain Charles Saxton Second rate 98 Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel HoodCaptain Alexander Hood Flagship of centre Third rate 74 Captain Francis Reynolds Third rate 64 Captain Lord Cranstoun Third rate 74 Captain John Nicholson Inglefield Third rate 74 Captain William Bayne Rear Third rate 74 Captain Henry Edwyn Stanhope Third rate 74 Captain Lord Robert Manners Third rate 74 Commodore Edmund AffleckCaptain Thomas Graves Flagship of Rear Third rate 74 Captain William Cornwallis Third rate 64 Captain Andrew Barclay Third rate 74 Captain George Bowen Third rate 64 Captain Samuel Thompson Attached frigatesVan Sixth rate 20 Captain George Wilson Centre Sixth rate 28 Captain John Stanhope Sixth rate 28 Captain Hugh Cloberry Christian Sixth rate 28 Captain Edmund Dod Sixth rate 20 Captain Thomas West To repeat signals Fifth rate 32 Captain Henry Harvey Sixth rate 28 Captain John M’Laurin Rear Sixth rate 28 Captain John Norton Sixth rate 28 Captain Charles Everitt Total recorded casualties: 72 killed, 244 wounded
France +Admiral de Grasse's fleet Division Ship Guns Commander Casualties Notes Killed Wounded Total Souverain 74 Glandevès du Castellet Hercule 74 Chadeau de la Clocheterie Languedoc 80 Arros d'Argelos Duc de Bourgogne 80 ChampmartinBarras de Saint-Laurent (Lieutenant General) Marseillais 74 Castellane Majastre Jason 64 Couète de Villages Magnanime 74 Le Bègue de Germiny Zélé 74 Gras-Préville Éveillé 64 Le Gardeur de Tilly Saint-Esprit 80 Chabert-Cogolin Sceptre 74 Vaudreuil Ville de Paris 104 De Grasse (Lieutenant General)Cresp de Saint-Césaire (Flag captain) César 74 Coriolis d'EspinouseNorthumberland 74 Bricqueville Diadème 74 Monteclerc Glorieux 74 Pérusse des Cars Citoyen 74 De Thy Scipion 74 Dassas Ardent 64 Bernard de MarignyNeptune 74 Renaud d'Aleins Auguste 80 Bougainville (Chef d'Escadre)Castellan (flag captain) Bourgogne 74 Charritte Pluton 74 Albert de Rions Caton 64 Framond Sagittaire 50 Montluc de la Bourdonnaye Experiment 50 Médine
Citations
References
Clowes, William Laird., (1897) The Royal Navy: a history from the earliest time to the present, Volume 3 Jaques, Tony Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E Greenwood 2006 Marley, F. David. Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present ABC-CLIO (1998).
External links Buttrey Manuscript "Battle of St. Kitts - perhaps first hand account