On This Day 3rd December
1796 - HMS Lapwing (28) engaged the French decius and Valliante at Anguilla. The former was captured, the latter destroyed.
1798 - HMS Victorieuse (12), under the command of Lt Edward Stirling ****son, and HMS Zephyr (Fireship, 10), took the surrender of Spanish forts and captured 2 brigs at Trinidad
1799 - HMS Racoon was in action again. From Wikipedia: The next day, Racoon captured another privateer, in this case after a fight. At 10 p.m. Racoon was about five or six miles south of Dover when she sighted a lugger boarding a brig. Racoon set off in ursuit and after 40 minutes of a running fight came alongside and exchanged further fire with the quarry. The French vessel sustained so much damage that he had to strike. The privateer was the Intrepide, of 16 guns and 60 men under the command of Citizen Suillard. He had sailed from Boulogne at 4 p.m. the previous day. In the engagement the French had thirteen men killed and wounded; Racoon had two men slightly wounded, one of them being Lloyd, who was wounded in the head by a half-pike, though not dangerously. Racoon was too damaged for Lloyd to be able to pursue the brig the privateer had captured. The brig was the Welcombe, and she had been sailing from London to Plymouth with malt. Lloyd stated that he "derived particular Pleasure to have deprived the Enemy of a Vessel which they considered the largest and best Sailer from Calais". Two days later Lloyd received his promotion to post captain.
1807 - HMS Curieusx vs Revanche. From Wikipedia: On 3 December 1807, off Barbados, Curieux, now armed with eight 6-pounders and ten 18-pounder carronades, engaged the 25-gun privateer Revanche, commanded by Captain Vidal. Revanche, which had been the slaver British Tar, was the more heavily armed (chiefly English 9-pounders, and one long French 18-pounder upon a traversing carriage on the forecastle) and had a crew of 200 men. Revanche nearly disabled Curieux, while killing Sheriff. Lieutenant Thomas Muir wanted to board Revanche, but too few crewmen were willing to follow him. The two vessels broke off the action and Revanche escaped. Curieux, whose shrouds and back-stays were shot away, and whose two topmasts and jib-boom had been damaged, was unable to pursue.
In addition to the loss of her captain, Curieux had suffered another seven dead and 14 wounded. Revanche, according to a paragraph in the Moniteur, lost two men killed and 13 wounded. Curieux, as soon as her crew had partially repaired her, made sail and anchored the next day in Carlisle Bay, Barbados. A subsequent court martial into why Muir had not taken or destroyed the enemy vessel mildly rebuked Muir for not having hove-to repair his vessel's damage once it became obvious that Curieux was in no condition to overtake Revanche.
1810 - Capture of Ile de France (Mauritius). Troops had been landed on the island on 29th November and advanced rapidly. The French made a stand at Port Napoleon which was assaulted and captured on December 2nd. French forces surrendered the following day and were granted repatriation and the right to retain their arms and Eagles. This right did not extend to shipping- the RN captured six frigates, 4 smaller warships and 24 merchant ships
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Originally Posted by David Manley
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