Action of 4 September 1782


The Action of 4 September 1782 was a small naval engagement which was fought off the Île de Batz between a French naval frigate Hébé and a Royal Naval frigate HMS Rainbow. This battle was notable as the first proper use of a carronade and so effective was this weapon that the French commander promptly surrendered just after the first broadside.

Action

On 4 September the 44 gun frigate HMS Rainbow under Captain Henry Trollope armed entirely with carronades was off the French coast near the Île de Batz when a frigate was sighted. Having then chased the vessel it turned to be a French frigate Hébé. Hébé of 1,063 tons was a new ship of the class of the same name whose armament consisted of 38 guns, twenty six of which were 18-pounder long guns. It was commanded by the Chevalier de Vigny and had on board 360 men. Hébé had left Saint-Malo on 3 September and was heading to Brest escorting a small convoy.
At 7 am, having arrived within gunshot of the French ship, the Rainbow commenced firing 32-pounder chase guns from the forecastle, which were returned by the frigate. One thirty-two pound ball shot away Hébé's wheel and killed her second captain.
Vigny examined the fragments of the hollow carronade shot and concluded that if she was firing 32-pounders as chase pieces she was actually a ship of the line in disguise. He fired one broadside, "pour l'honneur du pavillon,” and struck his colours. The surrender of Hébé after slight resistance was not surprising taking into consideration the advantage provided by the unusual armament of the Rainbow.
Rainbow lost only one man killed and two slightly wounded. The French lost five killed, including the second captain Yves-Gabriel Calloët de Lanidy, and several wounded out of a crew of 360 men.

Consequences

A council of war was met at Morlaix whereby the loss of a new frigate, with barely a fight, condemned Vigny to fifteen years in prison, the case of his rank and service being declared as unfit for service. The captured ship was immediately integrated into the Royal Navy as HMS Hebe. After being renamed HMS Blonde in 1805 it was finally broken up in 1811.
More importantly for the Navy, Hebe would serve as a model for a new series of British frigates, the Leda class, the first of which was launched in 1800. The new class would include HMS Surprise, HMS Trincomalee, HMS Unicorn, and a second HMS Hebe.