Description
The action of 22 May 1812 took place off Groix when a small French squadron comprising the French frigates Ariane and Andromaque, and the brig Mameluck returning from a commerce raiding campaign in the Atlantic, met the 74-gun HMS Northumberland while trying the slip to Lorient through the British blockade.
After a gunnery exchange that left all ships damaged, the frigates attempted to lose Northumberland by sailing through a shallow pass, but they ran aground. Northumberland, her repairs completed, returned to the scene and bombarded Andromaque until her rigging caught fire, setting the entire ship ablaze. Unable to refloat herself and trapped by Northumberland, Ariane‘s crew scuttled her by fire and evacuated on Mameluck.
Captains Jean-Baptiste-Henri Féretier and Nicolas Morice were found guilty of negligence in the loss of their ships, and forbidden from commanding for three years.
