Action of 13 March 1806

Action of 13 March 1806
Part of the War of the Third Coalition
The London Man of War capturing the Marengo Admiral Linois, 13 March 1806, "W. C. I."
Date 13 March 1806 Location Off the Canary Islands, Atlantic Ocean 26°16′N 29°25′W / 26.267°N 29.417°W / 26.267; -29.417 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	France
Commanders and leaders
John Warren	Charles Linois
Strength
7 ships of the line 1 frigate	1 ship of the line 1 frigate
Casualties and losses
40 killed and wounded	175 killed and wounded 1 ship of the line captured 1 frigate captured

The action of 13 March 1806 was a naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought when a British and a French squadron met unexpectedly in the mid-Atlantic. Neither force was aware of the presence of the other prior to the encounter and were participating in separate campaigns. The British squadron consisted of seven ships of the line accompanied by associated frigates, led by Rear-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, were tasked with hunting down and destroying the French squadron of Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, which had departed Brest for raiding operations in the South Atlantic in December 1805, at the start of the Atlantic campaign of 1806. The French force consisted of one ship of the line and one frigate, all that remained of Contre-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois' squadron that had sailed for the Indian Ocean in March 1803 during the Peace of Amiens. Linois raided British shipping lanes and harbours across the region, achieving limited success against undefended merchant ships but repeatedly withdrawing in the face of determined opposition, most notably at the Battle of Pulo Aura in February 1804. With his stores almost exhausted and the French ports east of the Cape of Good Hope that could have offered him replenishment eliminated, Linois decided to return to France in January 1806, and by March was inadvertently sailing across the cruising ground of Warren's squadron.

Linois had twice failed to capture, or even seriously engage, large and valuable British merchant convoys on his cruise. When he saw scattered sails in the distance at 03:00 on 13 March 1806, he decided to investigate in his ship of the line Marengo, in the hope that the ships would again prove to be a merchant convoy. By the time he realised that the approaching ships were actually a powerful naval squadron, he was too close to outrun the lead ship, Warren's flagship HMS London. As London engaged Marengo, the French frigate Belle Poule attempted to escape from the approaching squadron independently, but was also run down and brought to battle by the British frigate HMS Amazon. Both engagements lasted over three hours and were bloody, the French ships surrendering after three and a half hours and losing nearly 70 men between them.

The battle marked the end of Linois's three-year campaign against British trade and was the second British victory of the Atlantic campaign, following the Battle of San Domingo the previous month. Willaumez eventually returned to France, although without many of his squadron who were destroyed by British operations or Atlantic gales. Linois, despite the criticism levelled at him for his failures in the Indian Ocean, was considered to have fought hard and been unlucky to have encountered such an overwhelming force. Made a prisoner of war, Linois was not exchanged by Napoleon, who criticised his behaviour during the campaign and refused to employ him at sea again.