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 Hebe 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 ship 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 Hebe. Hebe of 1,063 tons was a new ship of the class of the same name which consisted of 38 guns, twenty six of which were 18-pounder long guns commanded by the Chevalier de Vigny (father of Alfred de Vigny) and had on board 360 men. Hebe had left Saint-Malo on 3 September and was heading to Brest escorting a small convoy.

At 7 am, having arrived within gun shot of the French ship, the Rainbow commenced firing 32-pounder chase guns from the forecastle which were returned by the frigate. An hour and a half later the ships manoeuvred for position and Captain Trollope then having got alongside engaged Hebe firing a single broadside. The effect was devastating; Hebe's wheel was shot away and one sixty eight pound shot had shot away her foremast as well as killing and wounding a number of the crew.

De 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 de pavilion,” (the honour of the flag) and struck his colours. The surrender of Hebe after slight resistance was not surprising given the unusual armament of the Rainbow is taken into consideration.

Rainbow lost only one man killed and two slightly wounded. The French lost five killed, including the second captain, and several wounded out of a crew of 360 men.

Consequences
A council of war was met at Morlaix whereby a new frigate which was lost with barely a fight, condemned Vigny to fifteen years in prison, the case of his rank and service was declared as unfit for service. The captured frigate 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 important for the Navy, it 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 Hebe, HMS Surprise, HMS Trincomalee and HMS Unicorn.