Action of 23 April 1794

The action of 23 April 1794 took place between a British squadron of five frigates under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren and three frigates and a corvette under the command of Chef d'escadre F. Desgarceaux during the French Revolutionary Wars. Three of the French ships were captured.

The battle
On 21 April the frigate HMS Minerva (1780) sighted four distant ships in the English Channel. The next morning Minerva met Warren's squadron, and passed this information on. Warren promptly set off in pursuit, and at dawn the next day, around 4 a.m., sighted three frigates and a corvette about seven or eight leagues (24.5–28 nautical miles) south-west of Guernsey. The French formed a line of battle, and Warren signalled his squadron to engage, with his own flagship HMS Flora (1780) in the lead, supported by HMS Arethusa (1781). Taking advantage of the weather gage the British were able to force the French into a close action which lasted for nearly three hours, before the FRENCH FRIGATE Pomone and HMS Babet (1794) surrendered at around 11 a.m.

The FRENCH FRIGATE Engageante and FRENCH FRIGATE Résolue attempted to escape, and Warren ordered HMS Concorde (1783), HMS Melampus (1785) and HMS Nymphe (1780) to pursue, as Flora was in no condition to do so. After an hour Concorde caught up with Engageante and attempted to disable her, intending to then attack the Résolue, leaving Engageante to Melampus and Nymphe, which were following.

However, while Concorde was engaged with Engageante, the Résolue dropped back and laid herself across Concorde bows, badly damaging her sails and rigging to the point where she was disabled. Having made hasty repairs Concorde came up again to re-engage the Engageante, which eventually surrendered at about 1.45 p.m. Résolue fired a few shots and then made off, pursued by Melampus and Nymphe, who chased her into Morlaix, before returning to assist Concorde which was towing the crippled Engageante to port.

Britain

 * HMS Flora (1780), (36) Sir John Borlase Warren, flagship
 * HMS Arethusa (1781), (38) Sir Edward Pellew
 * HMS Melampus (1785), (36) Thomas Wells
 * HMS Concorde (1783), (32) Sir Richard Strachan
 * HMS Nymphe (1780), (36) George Murray

France

 * FRENCH FRIGATE Engageante, (26) F. Desgarceaux, flagship - captured by Concorde
 * FRENCH FRIGATE Pomone, (44) Étienne Pévrieu - captured by Arethusa
 * FRENCH FRIGATE Résolue, (36) Antoine-Marie-François Montalan - escaped
 * HMS Babet (1794), (22) Pierre-Joseph-Paul Belhomme - captured by Arethusa