USS Constellation vs La Vengeance
USS Constellation vs La Vengeance, or the Action of 1 February 1800, was a single-ship action fought between frigates of the French Navy and the United States Navy during the Quasi-War. In the battle the American frigate USS Constellation tried to take the French frigate La Vengeance as a prize. Both ships were heavily damaged.
About USS Constellation vs La Vengeance in brief
USS Constellation vs La Vengeance, or the Action of 1 February 1800, was a single-ship action fought between frigates of the French Navy and the United States Navy during the Quasi-War. In the battle the American frigate USS Constellation tried to take the French frigate La Vengeance as a prize. Both ships were heavily damaged. In 1798, an undeclared war had begun between the U.S. and France due to French seizures of American merchantmen. Commodore Thomas Truxton led an American naval squadron that was dispatched to the Lesser Antilles to deter French attacks. In 1800, the United states Navy maintained four squadrons of vessels in the region. The only regular French naval forces in Truxton’s area of operations were the frigate La Vengeance under François Marie Pitot and the corvette La Berceau under Louis Senes. The same day, Pitot in La Vengeance left Guadaloupe’s capital of Basse-Terre for France.
By this point, the 1,265-ton Constellation carried 38 cannon despite officially being classified as a 36-gun frigate. In an effort to communicate with Pitot’s frigate, Constellation flew British colors and gave chase. Pitot was able to escape with his frigate to Curaçao, though only after sustaining severe casualties and damage to his vessel. The American ship sustained serious damage and sailed to Jamaica for repairs before returning home to a hero’s welcome. The action was really a French warship so he ordered Constellation to clear the American flag and give chase for the French ship, so he shouted through a trumpet that she was a British warship and closed with La Vengeance through a gap in the wind. The French ship struck her colors twice, she managed to flee only after the main mast of her opponent had fallen.
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This page is based on the article USS Constellation vs La Vengeance published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
