On this day 14 September - a couple of engagements

The Action of 14 September 1779 was a minor naval engagement between a British Royal Naval frigate HMS Pearl and a Spanish frigate Santa Mónica off the Azores during the American War of Independence. The Spanish Navy had been patrolling the Azores since July with a small squadron of ships under of Lt. Gen. Don Antonio de Ulloa, with his flagship Fenix, ships of the line Gallardo, Diligent and San Julián, and the frigates Santa Maria and Santa Mónica.

On the 14th of September, the British 32-gun frigate HMS Pearl, Captain George Montagu while cruising off the Azores in the early hours of the morning chased a large ship which turned out to be the Spanish 28 gun frigate Santa Mónica under the command of Don Miguel de Nunes. The Santa Mónica was a new ship, mounting 26 long 12-pounders on her main deck, and two 4-pounders on her quarter-deck, with a crew of 271 men. Santa Mónica in addition exceeded the Pearl in point of tonnage. At 09:30am, Pearl caught up with the ship and commenced action. After fighting for two hours, the Santa Mónica becoming severely damaged and having had 38 men killed and 45 wounded, struck her colours. The Pearl was little damaged except to her rigging and suffered a loss of 12 men killed and 19 wounded. Ulloa was acquitted in a court martial back in Cadiz in October back because of the loss of the Santa Mónica.

George Montagu:

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Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Girault:

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The Engagement:

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The text of this engagement has been taken directly from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_...September_1779


On 14 September the ships of the line HMS Belleisle under Captain William Hargood, HMS Bellona under Captain John Erskine Douglas and the frigate HMS Melampus under Captain Stephen Poyntz were cruising off Cape Henry in search of Strachan's flagship HMS Caesar when they spotted a ship sailing under jury masts to the southwest. Closing to investigate, they discovered that the stranger was the French ship Impétueux, left in a dismasted and leaking state by the hurricane and desperately attempting to reach a harbour in the United States. Commodore Alain-Joseph Le Veyer-Belair immediately steered Impétueux towards the coast to avoid the unequal combat and drove his ship on shore at 08:15. Although Impétueux was now on United States soil, Melampus opened fire, the attack followed at 10:00 by boats from Belleisle and Bellona. Boarding parties seized Impétueux but the appearance of two sails on the horizon, later discovered to be British, convinced Hargood to abandon the wreck to Melampus. By 20:00 the remaining French crew had been taken aboard the frigate as prisoners and Poyntz gave orders for the wreck to be burnt.

William Hargood:

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HMS Melampus:

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The text of this engagement is taken directly from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_campaign_of_1806

On 14 September 1814, during the War of 1812, the Sloop-of-War Wasp, commanded by Johnston Blakely, captured and burned the British Merchant Brig Bacchus in the Atlantic. A week later, she captured the Brig Atlanta (ex-U.S. privateer “Siro”).
Read more about USS Wasp:
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w3/wasp-v.htm --