Action of 18 June 1793

In February 1793, the National Convention that governed the French Republic expanded the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars by declaring war on Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The French Navy by contrast was riven with the same social divisions that had divided France in the aftermath of the French Revolution four years earlier. This had led to the collapse of the professional officer corps and the elimination of the rank of trained seamen-gunners on the grounds of elitism, resulting in a dearth of experience both in seamanship and naval combat. He was accompanied on board Nymphe by his younger brother Commander Israel Pellew, who was at the time an unemployed reserve officer enlisted as a volunteer aboard his brother's ship. For two hours the battle continued as the ships drifted closer to one another, until Gaillard attempted to break off the action and escape: his ship was severely damaged and casualties were mounting. Initially it seemed that Faulknor would be able to prevent Gaillard's ship from escaping by keeping pace with the retreating Sémillante, but as he prepared to fire a second broadside into the retreating French ship a new sail appeared, belonging to a large ship flying the French tricolour. With his sails and rigging damaged, Faulknor could not compete against both Sémillante and the newcomer and fell back as the French ships linked up. The new arrival, later identified as the Cléopâtre, chased Venus but Faulknor was able to make use of a strengthening breeze to escape, eventually rejoining Nymphe on 29 May at which point Cléopâtre broke off the chase. The British frigates subsequently shadowed the French vessels northwards, chasing them into Cherbourg in the first week of June. The engagement cost Faulknor two men killed and 20 wounded, with his ship's rigging and sails badly torn but the hull undamaged. The larger Sémillante was more seriously battered, with twelve killed and 20 wounded, severe damage to the sails and rigging and at least of water in the hold. ==Battle==

On 17 June, after escorting the battered Venus back to Falmouth and collecting fresh supplies, Pellew sailed once more in search of Cléopâtre. Passing eastwards along the English coast until he reached Start Point in Devon, Pellew then turned southwards and at 03:30 on 18 June, while approximately southwest of Start Point, his lookout sighted a sail to the southeast. Captain Mullon initially raising all sail to escape the British frigate. By 05:00 it was obvious that Nymphe was faster than the French ship and Mullon lowered his topsails in anticipation of combat. At 06:00 Nymphe pulled within range and Mullon hailed the British ship, although his words could not be clearly made out. Accounts differ on Pellew's response, which was to elicit a cry of either "Hoa, Hoa" or "Long live King George" from his men, followed by three cheers. Mullon's crew responded with either "Vive la nation" or "Vive la république" and cheering of their own, at which one French sailor attached the captain's cap of liberty to the masthead as a symbol of defiance. This gave Pellew the opportunity to engage the enemy even more closely and by 07:00 the French wheel had been destroyed, four successive helmsmen killed and the mizzenmast snapped off above the deck. This damage caused the French ship to swing around wildly, first to port and then suddenly back to starboard into Nymphe, so that the jib boom came to rest between the fore and main masts of the British ship, exerting significant pressure on the mainmast, already weakened by French shot, before the jib boom eventually snapped off. Mullon gave orders for his men to storm Nymphe while the ships were entangled, but his crew refused. The British captain had initially been concerned that the collision was a deliberate manoeuvre from Mullon and had readied his men in case the French should launch a boarding attack on his frigate. However, as soon as it became clear that the movement was involuntary and that the French were unwilling to press an attack, Pellew reversed his orders and had the men he had assembled to repel boarders climb on board Cléopâtre instead. At Pellew's orders, British boarders clambered onto the maindeck, through the gunports of the French frigate and even jumped from their own rigging onto the French yards. Although the attackers initially encountered fierce resistance, hand-to-hand combat lasted just ten minutes before the leaderless French sailors broke and ran. More than 100 prisoners were then collected from Cléopâtre and sent aboard Nymphe, leaving 150 remaining on the French ship under the guard of the small prize crew. The ships were then separated and made their way to Portsmouth together, arriving there on 21 June. ==Aftermath==

The arrival of the captured ship in Britain was greeted with celebration as the first major French warship seized during the conflict. News of the capture reached King George while he was at the opera, and he immediately and spontaneously announced it to the auditorium. Popular prints depicting the action appeared rapidly in large numbers, many of them wildly inaccurate. Shortly after their return to Britain both Pellew brothers were subsequently introduced to King George by Lord Chatham and were rewarded, Edward with a knighthood and Israel with promotion to post captain. First Lieutenant Amherst Morris was promoted to commander, and the ship's other lieutenants were commended for their actions, following Pellew's official dispatch that praised their conduct in the engagement. and authorised for payment on 14 December 1793. The ship was considered a good command and remained in service throughout the 23 years of warfare which followed, eventually being sold in 1816. During this time at least 220 more French and allied frigates were captured or destroyed by British military action. More than five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants from Nymphe still living in 1847. Soon after the action, Sir Edward Pellew moved to the large frigate HMS Indefatigable while his brother was given command of the frigate HMS Amphion. Both served with distinction: Sir Edward captured several more frigates and destroyed the French ship of the line ''Droits de l'Homme at the action of 13 January 1797, ending the war as commander in chief in the Mediterranean. Israel was most noted for capturing the French flagship Bucentaure at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 while in command of HMS Conqueror''. Historian William James has noted that while Nymphe was slightly heavier both in tonnage and weight of shot, the French ship carried 80 more personnel who had been serving as a unified crew for significantly longer than those aboard the British frigate; This should have conferred an advantage on the French during the final boarding action but the loss of the commanding officers and heavy casualties among the French crew enabled the British to capture the ship. Nevertheless, the heavy casualties on both ships demonstrated the fierceness of the action and James notes that "both combatants displayed, throughout the contest, an equal share of bravery and determination". ==References==