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The Action of 18 August 1798 was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought between the British fourth rate ship HMS ''Leander'' and the French ship of the line ''Généreux''. Both ships had been engaged at the Battle of the Nile three weeks earlier, in which a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson had destroyed a French fleet at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. ''Généreux'' was one of only four French ships to survive the battle, while ''Leander'' had been detached from the British fleet by Nelson on 6 August. On board, Captain Edward Berry sailed as a passenger, charged with carrying despatches to the squadron under Earl St Vincent off Cadiz. On 18 August, while passing the western shore of Crete, ''Leander'' was intercepted and attacked by ''Généreux'', which had separated from the rest of the French survivors the day before. Captain Thomas Thompson on ''Leander'' initially tried to escape the much larger French ship, but it rapidly became clear that ''Généreux'' was faster than his vessel. At 09:00 the ships exchanged broadsides, the engagement continuing until 10:30, when Captain Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille made an unsuccessful attempt to board ''Leander'', suffering heavy casualties in the attempt. For another five hours the battle continued, Thompson successfully raking ''Généreux'' at one stage but ultimately being outfought and outmanoeuvered by the larger warship. Eventually the wounded Thompson surrendered his dismasted ship by ordering his men to wave a French tricolour on a pike. As French sailors took possession of the British ship, Lejoille encouraged systematic looting of the sailors' personal possessions, even confiscating the surgeon's tools in the middle of an operation. Against the established conventions of warfare, he forced the captured crew to assist in bringing ''Leander'' safely into Corfu, and denied them food and medical treatment unless they co-operated with their captors. Lejoille's published account of the action greatly exaggerated the scale of his success, and, although he was highly praised in the French press, he was castigated in Britain for his conduct. Thompson, Berry and most of the British officers were exchanged and acquitted at court martial, and the captains were knighted for their services, while ''Leander'' and many of the crew were recaptured in March 1799 by a Russian squadron that seized Corfu, and returned to British control by order of Tsar Paul. ''Généreux'' survived another year in the Mediterranean, but was eventually captured off Malta in 1800 by a British squadron under Lord Nelson. ==Background== On 1 August 1798 a British fleet of 13 ships of the line and one fourth rate ship under Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson discovered a French fleet of 13 ships of the line and four frigates at anchor in Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.〔Clowes, p. 355〕 Nelson had been in pursuit of the French for three months, crossing the Mediterranean three times in his efforts to locate the fleet and a convoy under its protection which carried the French army commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte intended for the invasion of Egypt. The convoy successfully eluded Nelson and the army landed at Alexandria on 31 June, capturing the city and advancing inland. The fleet was too large to anchor in Alexandria harbour and instead Bonaparte ordered its commander, Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers to take up station in Aboukir Bay.〔James, p. 159〕 On discovering the French Nelson attacked immediately, ordering his ships to advance on the French line and engage, beginning the Battle of the Nile. As he closed with the French line, Captain Thomas Foley on the lead ship HMS ''Goliath'' realised that there was a gap at the head of the French line wide enough to allow his ship passage. Pushing through the gap, Foley attacked the French van from the landward side, followed by four ships, while Nelson engaged the van from the seaward side with three more.〔Adkins, p. 24〕 The remainder of the fleet attacked the French centre, except for HMS ''Culloden'' which grounded on a shoal and became stuck. The smaller ships in the squadron, the fourth rate HMS ''Leander'' and the sloop HMS ''Mutine'', attempted to assist ''Culloden'', but it was soon realised that the ship was immobile.〔Clowes, p. 363〕 Determined to participate in the battle, Captain Thomas Thompson of ''Leander'' abandoned the stranded ''Culloden'' and joined the second wave of attack against the French centre, focusing fire on the bow of the 120-gun French first rate ''Orient''.〔Clowes, p. 364〕 Within an hour, ''Orient'' caught fire under the combined attack of three ships and later exploded, effectively concluding the engagement in Nelson's favour.〔James, p. 171〕 During the next two days, the lightly damaged ''Leander'' was employed in forcing the surrender of several grounded French vessels, and by the afternoon of 3 August Nelson was in complete control of Aboukir Bay. Only four French ships, two ships of the line and two frigates, escaped, sailing north out of the bay on the afternoon of 2 August under the command of Rear-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve.〔Gardiner, p. 38〕 Having won the battle, Nelson needed to send despatches to his commander, Vice-Admiral Earl St. Vincent reporting on the destruction of the French Mediterranean fleet. These messages were entrusted to Captain Edward Berry, who had served as Nelson's flag captain on HMS ''Vanguard'' during the battle.〔Tracy, p. 277〕 Thompson was ordered to escort Berry to St. Vincent, believed to be with the blockade squadron off Cadiz, in ''Leander''. Although ''Leander'' had not suffered serious damage in the battle, Thompson had manning problems: casualties from the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in July 1797 had never been replaced, 14 men had been wounded in the battle at Aboukir Bay and two officers and fifty men had been detached to man the captured French prizes. This left Thompson with just 282 men on board ''Leander''.〔 Following Nelson's orders, Thompson sailed on 5 August.〔Clowes, p. 513〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Action of 18 August 1798」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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