Action of 22 May 1812 The Action of 22 May 1812 took place off Groix when a small French two - frigate squadron comprising " Ariane " and " Andromaque " , 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 the ship of the line 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 " was scuttled by fire by her crew , and the French evacuated on the brig " 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 . Background . By 1812 , the Royal Navy enjoyed an absolute supremacy on all seas , and even blockade d French harbours , preventing French squadrons from leaving and conducting naval operations of significance . The French Navy was thus forced into commerce raiding : small frigate squadrons would attempt to slip through the blockade and roam the seas , patrolling to capture lightly armed merchantmen . On 9 January 1812 , a French frigate squadron left Nantes to attack British and American shipping in the Atlantic , off the Azores and Bermuda . The squadron comprised the two 18 - pounder 40 - gun frigates " Ariane " and " Andromaque " , under Captains Jean - Baptiste - Henri Féretier and Nicolas Morice respectively , and the 16 - gun brig " Mameluck " , under Captain Galabert . Feretier was the commanding officer of the squadron . In the early afternoon of 15 January , the French cruise met a British squadron comprising the 50 - gun HMS " Leopard " and the large 40 - gun HMS " Endymion " , which mounted 24 - pounder s . In the face of overwhelming odds , the French fled and in the evening had successfully outran their pursuers . The French squadron , free to continue on its mission . reached its patrolling area and started preying on merchant shipping . In the course of four next months , it took 36 prizes ( 9 British , 3 Portuguese , 1 Spanish , 1 Swedish and 11 American ) , and made 217 prisoners . The British , however , were now informed of the presence of a French frigate squadron , and warned the blockade of Brest , under Rear - admiral Sir Harry Neale , to watch for its return . Neale tasked the 74 - gun HMS " Northumberland " , under Captain the Honourable Henry Hotham , to attempt to intercept the frigates and bring them into action . " Northumberland " detached on 19 May and took position off the point of Isle Groix . Meanwhile , the French squadron was on its course back to France . Through prisoners and logs of captured ships , Feretier had learned of Allemand ' s escape from Lorient to Brest ; he thus expected the British blockading ships to be sailing in pursuit of the French fleet or cruising off Brest , and attempted to seize the opportunity to slip through to Lorient . In the morning of 22 May , the French squadron arrived off Penmarch . Around 11 : 30 , a large sail appeared in the North , which was soon recognised to be the 74 - gun HMS " Northumberland " . Feretier decided to sail through by force . However , Morice signaled that one of his crewmembers , ensign Legrand , was familiar with the area and though himself capable of leading the frigates through a shallow pass where they could slip and distance " Northumberland " . Feretier decided to take his chance with this idea , and ordered " Andromaque " to lead , leaving " Mameluck " free to manoeuver at will . Around 15 : 00 , the frigates came within range of " Northumberland " , which waited near Pointe du Talut . " Northumberland " fired a few shots , to which " Andromaque " , supported by coastal defence batteries , responded with her whole broadside . A nourished artillery exchange broke out , obscuring the view of the ships with smoke and killing ensign Legrand on " Andromaque " . Officer Legros , only officer on " Andromaque " familiar with these waters , took over , but around 5 : 45 , " Andromaque " ran aground on the Northern part of Basse Grasie reef . " Ariane " reacted by turning on her right , but soon also ran aground . Seeing the danger , " Northumberland " immediately retreated , and took the opportunity to repair the damaged caused to her rigging by the cannonade , particularly her top foremast . With " Mameluck " the only ship able to manoeuver , Feretier ordered the brig to sail to Lorient and request assistance . " Mameluck " attempted to execute the order , but also ran aground , right to " Ariane " . With the resceding tide , the frigates started to list so much that they threw their starboard artillery overboard , emptied their water reserves and removed all unnecessary cargo . Soon afterwards , " Northumberland " returned , along with the 12 - gun " Growler " , anchored North of the frigates , and started a two - hour bombardment , to which the frigate were unable to respond , save for a handful of carronades on " Andromaque " . After the first few shots , at 5 : 55 , a fire declared in the fore top of " Andromaque " ; with his fire pump shattered , Morice ordered the mast cut down , but all the men assigned to the task were killed or wounded by British shots , and fire soon engulfed the forecastle . With the water intake well above the sea , it was impossible to flood the powder room . Feretier sent an ensign to " Andromaque " , who returned to bring the news that the fire was beyond control ; he then ordered the 86 sick and the prisoners taken to the boats that had come from Lorient . " Northumberland " having departed , the préfet maritime went to the site of the battle . Feretier reported that the hull of " Ariane " was ridden with shots on starboard and filled with water , and that the pilots deemed her impossible to refloat . The préfet then ordered " Ariane " abandoned , and Feretier had her set afire to prevent her capture . By 8 : 20 , the crew had come ashore and the officers embarked on boats for Lorient ; " Andromaque " exploded soon afterwards . " Ariane " exploded in the night , at 2 : 30 . " Mameluck " had cut her topmasts and thrown her artillery overboard in fruitless attempts to refloat , and had been abandoned by her crew because a number of the shots below the waterline made her impossible to sail into combat . However , she had not suffered as much as the frigates , and the next day , a party returned to " Mameluck " and succeeded in refloating her . She reached Lorient on 24 , only survivor of the squadron . Aftermath . The frigates , loaded with the most valuable items captured on their prizes , were particularly low in the water , which contributed to their grounding ; morever , the pass that Legrand , a native of Ploemeur , recalled , could only be used by boats , and would never have accommodated a frigate . James remarks that the grounding of the smaller " Mameluck " is a testimony of the hopelessness of the attempt to sail a frigate through the pass . Feretier and Morice were court - martialled , as was customary for the loss of a ship . Captain Le Gouardun blamed them for not having diverted to Brest , Cherbourg or Saint Malo , or even returned to Lorient after a feint to lose the British ship ; he furthermore remarked that the frigate squadron could only fight the 74 - gun in a melee , and not by forming a line of battle ; he suggested that Feretier could have lacked bravery in following Morice ' s " Andromaque " and leaving her to sustain the brunt of the fight , and that this line was also a navigation error , as it sent " Ariane " onto the same rocks as " Andromaque " . Both captains were declared guilty of incompetence , striped of rank and forbidden from commanding a ship for three years . However , as the Navy suffered from a lack of personnel , they were quickly appointed as first officers on other ship . James mentions that a " fine French two - decker , with sails bent and topgallant yards across , in the harbour of Lorient , lay a mortified spectator of this gallant achievement " ; the ship in question was the 80 - gun " Diadème " , that could not intervene due to the unfavourable winds . On the British side , Lieutenant Weeks , captain of " Growler " , and Lieutenant John Banks , first officer of " Northumberland " , were promoted to Commander for their role in the battle . Discovery of the wreck . In 1986 , Jean - Claude Abadie discovered the traces of one of the wrecked frigates at the site of Grasu , off Lorient - Ploemeur . Expertise the DRASSM ( Département des Recherches Archéologiques Subaquatiques et Sous - marines , Ministry of Culture ) confirmed the interest of the site . Another wreck was found nearby , though it turned out to be that of a merchantman , of the same era but unrelated to the event . A bronze cannon was found by an amateur diver shortly thereafter . In 1996 , an underwater Excavation was undertaken to salvage remains of the wreck , with 54 divers searching the area between 1 to 10 metres deep . Another excavation in June 2000 localised the second frigate . The fruits of the search was put on display at the Cité de la Mer .