On this day 11 December - HMS Tremendous and HMS Adamant engage French Preneuse

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On 11 December 1799, as she returned to Île de France, Preneuse encountered the 74-gun HMS Tremendous, under Captain John Osborn. Tremendous gave chase. As Preneuse closed to the land, the 50-gun HMS Adamant, under Captain William Hotham, cut her escape route. While Preneuse was attempting to sail under the protection of the coastal forts at Baie-du-Tombeau, erratic winds drove her ashore. The British closed in and battered Preneuse, which Lhermitte then deemed lost. He had the crew abandon ship, while he stayed behind with his officers, struck the colours and scuttled the frigate. British boats attempted to recover Preneuse, but she came under fire from the coastal batteries and they abandoned the attempt. The British took Preneuse's officers to Adamant, where Commodore Botham treated them with courtesy. He released Lhermitte on parole the next day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_...reneuse_(1795)

While operating in the Indian Ocean Adamant and the 74-gun HMS Tremendous, under Captain John Osborn, encountered the French commerce raider Preneuse, under Captain Jean-Marthe-Adrien l'Hermite off Port Louis, Île de France on 11 December 1799. They chased her, forcing her to run ashore three miles from Port Louis, under the cover of French shore batteries. Hotham took Adamant in close, and tried to work up to the grounded frigate, coming under heavy fire from the batteries and the Preneuse as he did so. After a period of exchanging fire, the Adamant forced the French frigate to strike, and that evening three boats carrying men from Adamant and Tremendous approached with orders to destroy the French vessel. Despite coming under heavy fire from the batteries, they boarded the ship, captured the remaining French crew, including Captain l'Hermite, and removed as much of their captives' private property as they could. They then set fire to the Preneuse and returned to their ships without the loss of a single man. Hotham remained off South Africa and in the Indian Ocean until being recalled to Britain as an escort for a convoy in September 1801, returning on 14 December 1801.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Adamant_(1780)

Jean-Marthe-Adrien L'Hermite:



The Engagement: