On This Day 17 June

[Coog]

On 17 June 1794, as the 38-gun French frigate Sibylle was anchored in Miconi along with three merchantmen bound for Cadie, she was met with a British convoy escorted by the 50-gun HMS Romney, under Capt. Paget, and three frigates. Romney approached and demanded that Sibylle hoist a white flag, to which her captain CV Rondeau retorted that he could not fly another flag than that of the Republic; Romney opened fire, and after a one hour and a half of gunnery exchanges, Sibylle struck to her much more powerful opponent. Paget took possession of Sibylle and the merchantmen, but left the crew and Rondeau ashore. Sibylle was taken into British service as HMS Sybille.

[Coog]

On 17 June 1799 the squadron, consisting of the 40-gun Junon, 36-gun Alceste, 32-gun Courageuse, 18-gun Salamine and 14-gun Alerte under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perrée, while enroute from Jaffa for Toulon, was south of Toulon when it ran into a British squadron under the command of Captain John Markham of HMS Centaur. The British captured the entire French squadron, with HMS Captain capturing Alerte.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_18_June_1799

[Coog]

On 17 June 1815, off the Algerian coast, the 38-gun frigate USS Constellation drove the 44-gun frigate Meshuda, the flagship of the Algerian Fleet, under the guns of Commodore Stephen Decatur's flagship, the 44-gun frigate USS Guerriere. With two broadsides, the American frigate drove below all who were not killed or disabled on Meshuda's decks, where after, Meshuda surrendered. Among her fatalities was Rais Hamidu, Algiers' ranking naval officer.