Her repairs completed,
Junon returned to the Caribbean in September 1809 under the command of Captain
John Shortland, under orders to enforce a naval blockade of French-controlled Guadeloupe. At 2.15pm on 13 December,
Junon was in company with the 14-gun
sloop-of-war HMS Observateur when her crew sighted four unknown ships heading west towards the French colony. Both British vessels turned to intercept, with
Observateur in the lead. The four unknown vessels were swiftly identified as frigates rather than merchantmen. Commander Wetherall of
Observateur signaled this information to
Junon and ordered his own ship cleared for action. of the lead frigate, that vessel suddenly hauled down its Spanish and British flags and raised the French ensign. The following three vessels followed suit, and all four vessels opened fire on
Junon at short range.
Junons crew were taken by surprise; a ragged retaliatory broadside struck two of the French ships but caused little damage.
Junon herself received broadsides to her port, starboard, and stern and quickly became indefensible; her crew surrendered at 7pm when French soldiers boarded their ship. A total of 15 British sailors were killed and 44 wounded, including Shortland, who was hit by musket fire and then struck through the body by wood splinters torn from the deck by cannon fire. The British sloop
Observateur had fired upon the French when the engagement began but
Junons capture was too swift for her to directly assist her sister ship. Instead, as
Junon seemed lost Wetherall ordered that
Observateur make sail and escape to the west. The French vessels were the frigates
Clorinde and
Renommée, and the lightly armed
flûtes Loire and
Seine, en route to Guadeloupe with supplies and reinforcements for the colony. Overall command rested with Captain Dominque Roquebert aboard
Clorinde. Roquebert's logs indicate he had not initially intended to engage the British, and had raised the Spanish flag in the hope that they would leave his ships alone. However, when
Junon and
Observateur drew near, Roquebert decide to continue with the ruse of the
false flag to lure the British into range of all four French vessels at the same time. The French suffered 80 casualties, including 34 killed. All casualties were from among the crews of
Clorinde and
Renommée which had come alongside
Junon during the battle.
Loire and
Seine had engaged the British ship from the rear and had not come under fire from either
Junon or
Observateur. == Fate ==