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Lot Essay
On 13t<\sup>h<\sup> January 1797, H.M.S. Indefatigable, 38-guns, and H.M.S. Amazon, 32, were patrolling south-west of Ushant when they sighted a large vessel heading for the French coast. As they closed with her, she was identified as the 74-gun Droits de l'Homme on her way home from Ireland after the abortive French landings in Bantry Bay with about 700 troops aboard her. The weather was overcast, with a strong westerley wind, and as the Frenchman attempted to outrun her pursuers by cramming on more sail, she lost her fore and main top-masts in a squall. Just before 6 p.m., Indefatigable brought her to action and the Droits de l'Homme, unable to use her lower gunports due to the heavy sea running, was soon at a disadvantage. After about an hour Amazon joined the fray but, helped by the darkness, the Droits de l'Homme fought on and the action was only broken off at 4.20 the next morning when the participants realised that they had drifted dangerously inshore during the night. All three ships were badly damaged and difficult to manoeuvre though Indefatigable, with great good luck, got out to sea. Amazon was less fortunate and grounded but lost only six men thanks to excellent discipline, whereas Droits de l'Homme hit a sandbank, heeled over and lost her masts completely. In the rapidly worsening weather the fierce surf sank the boats and rafts which managed to get away and those men remainingaboard were marooned for four days before the weather finally abated and they were able to get ashore.
A variant of this compostion is held in the National Collection at Greenwich (for which see Concise Catalogue of Oil Paintings in the National Maritime Museum, BHC0482, ill. p. 131).
A variant of this compostion is held in the National Collection at Greenwich (for which see Concise Catalogue of Oil Paintings in the National Maritime Museum, BHC0482, ill. p. 131).