On this day 1 May

[7eat51]

On the 1st of May 1811, British ships engaged French ships and shore batteries in the Bay of Sagone, Corsica. The HMS Pomone, a 38-gun frigate under the command of Captain Sir Robert Barrie, the HMS Unite, a 40-gun frigate under the command of Captain Chamberlayne, and the HMS Scout, an 18-gun brig-sloop under the command of Commander Alexander Renton Sharpe, attacked and defeated the Giraffe (26), Nourrice (24), and the armed merchantman Henriette. Due to a lack of wind, Captain Barrie order boats to tow the British ships into range of the French. For 90 minutes, the British pounded the French ships and forces on shore – which included a 4-gun battery with mortar, a Martello tower with cannon, and troops with field guns. By the end of the bombardment, the French ships were ablaze, having been loaded with timber for shipbuilding, and the forces onshore were quieted, some of which was destroyed by fire from burning timbers of the French ships that exploded.

Robert Barrie:

4542

HMS Pomone:

4543

Corsican Martello Tower:

4544


For more on today's event:
http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/16502/pages/1248
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pomone_(1805)
http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3232
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Scout_(1804)

[Coog]

For those of you who did not catch it the first time around, other 1 May events:

http://sailsofglory.org/showthread.php?432-On-This-Day-1-May