 The French Indian Ocean islands of Île Bonaparte and Isle de France had provided a secure base for French privateers and French Navy frigates to operate against British shipping in the region for the entire French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In 1808, determined to capitalise on this poorly defended region of British trade, the French government ordered Commodore Jacques Hamelin in Vénus to sail to Isle de France where he would be joined by three other large and powerful frigates with specific orders to target British trade. Dispersing his frigates into the Bay of Bengal, Hamelin had some success during 1809: Caroline capturing two East Indiamen at the Action of 31 May 1809 and Hamelin himself seizing three at the Action of 18 November 1809. The French squadron also captured a number of smaller British warships and the large Portuguese frigate Minerve.
