Destruction of the Girafe and Nourrice

Notes on Action

At the end of April 1811, the flutes, Girafe and Nourrice, together with an armed merchantman, all three laden with ship timber for Toulon, lay at anchor in the Gulf of Sagone, Corsica, under a battery of four guns and a mortar, and with further protection from a martello tower mounting one gun.

On the evening of the 30th, the Pomone, 38, Captain Robert Barrie, Unite, 36, Captain Edwin Henry Chamberlayne, and Scout, 18, Commander Alexander Benton Sharpe, arrived off the coast to attack them. The French made all possible preparations, the Nourrice landing some of her guns, and troops being posted on the heights. The crews of the British ships volunteered either to land or to cut out the enemy's craft; but Barrie determined to employ the vessels, and, on May 1st, there being no wind, the two frigates and the brig were towed by their people into positions within grape range, in spite of a severe raking fire. The action began at 8 P.M., and, after about an hour and a half, the French ships burst into flames. The Pomone and consorts thereupon towed themselves out of danger, and, in a short time, the Girafe and Nourrice blew up, the battery and the tower sharing their fate. In this affair the British loss was 2 killed and 25, including Lieutenant William Neame, wounded.