"Battle of Aix Roads" Topic

"The story begins with Admiral James Gambier, Baron Gambier, who was in charge of the British Channel fleet and occupied blockading the port of Brest, where a French squadron consisting of eight ships of the line and two frigates was skulking under the command of Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez. On the 21st February 1809 Willaumez managed to slip away unnoticed and made his way to L'Orient, where he liberated the ships therein blockaded, before proceeding to Rochefort with much the same intention.

During this time the Royal Navy were frantically searching for the French, and eventually a squadron commanded by Admiral Robert Stopford found Willaumez at Rochefort. The French now withdrew into the Aix Roads1 where they were under the protection of the batteries on the Isle d'Aix. Now under the command of Admiral Zacharie Allemand, the fleet consisted of ten ships of the line, four frigates, and one store-ship, a captured East Indiaman, the Calcutta. Allemand had no intention of engaging the British…"
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