The Battle of Gondelour, Bay of Bengal, 20th June 1783
By 1781, France, America and Spain had consolidated against Britain.
Holland, no longer the naval influence that it had been in the previous century joined this alliance. In doing so it fell upon France to protect Dutch posessions abroad, among which were the Cape of Good hope and Tincomalee in Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka).
These were important strategic and commercial staging posts en-rout to India and were under threat by British forces that had been sent establish influence in this region too. So began a whole series of naval engagements in this area right thru to 1783.
This scene depicts the last of these confrontations between fleets led by Pierre-Andre' de Suffren de Saint Tropez and Sir Edward Hughes.
The battle began at around five o'clock p.m. off Cuddalore on India's Coromadel Coast, lasting till nightfall but proved indecisive.
By the 29th June 1783 news finally arrived of the end of hostilities. |
