Battle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle which took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren . Both squadrons were en route to the Cape of Good Hope , the British to take it from the Dutch , the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean . The British convoy and its escorting squadron had anchored at Porto Praya ( now Praia ) in the Cape Verde Islands to take on water , when the French squadron arrived and attacked them at anchor . Due to the unexpected nature of the encounter , neither fleet was prepared to do battle , and an inconclusive battle was fought in which the French fleet sustained more damage than the British ( although no ships were lost ) . Johnstone tried to pursue the French , but was forced to call it off in order to repair the damage his ships had taken . The French gained a strategic victory , because Suffren beat Johnstone to the Cape and reinforced the Dutch garrison before continuing on his journey to the Ile de France ( now Mauritius ) . Background . France had entered the American Revolutionary War in 1778 , and Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in late 1780 , when the Dutch refused to stop trading with the French and the Americans . Commodore George Johnstone was ordered to lead an expedition to capture the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope . On 13 March 1781 Johnstone sailed from Spithead with a fleet of 37 ships , including five ships of the line , three frigates , and a large number of troop convoy ships . In early April the fleet anchored in the neutral harbour of Porto Praya in the Portuguese - controlled Cape Verde Islands to take on water and supplies . The French admiral the Bailli de Suffren had been dispatched on a mission to provide military assistance to French and Dutch colonies in India , leading a fleet of five ships of the line , seven transports , and a corvette to escort the transports . On 22 March he had sailed in the company of a fleet destined for North America under Admiral de Grasse , with word of Johnstone ' s mission and an objective to reach the Cape first . One of Suffren ' s ships , the " Artésien " , had originally been destined for America , and was in need of water , so the French fleet paused when it approached Santiago on 16 April , and Suffren ordered the " Artésien " to the harbour . Battle . When the " Artésien " reached the mouth of the harbour , she spotted the British fleet at anchor , and signalled Suffren that the enemy was in sight . Suffren , assuming ( correctly ) that the fleet had men ashore and would be in some disarray , immediately gave orders to attack , leading the way with his flagship , the " Héros " . Johnstone , who was in the process of ordering ship manoeuvres to separate ships that had drifted too close to one another when the French squadron was spotted , had to scramble to prepare the fleet for battle . Suffren ' s orders were for his line to anchor before the British fleet and open fire . This he did with " Héros " , taking on and , the two largest British ships . The " Annibal " soon came to his aid , and eventually drew most of the fire . The " Artésien " , whose captain was killed early in the engagement , captured a troop ship in the confusion , and then was blown out of the action by a breeze . The " Vengeur " passed along the anchored British fleet , exchanging broadsides , but never anchored herself , and passed out of the action , while the " Sphinx " also failed to anchor , and only contributed minimally to the action . Suffren , with the advantage of surprise , maintained the action with the two anchored ships for ninety minutes until damage ( " Annibal " lost two of three masts ) before signalling a retreat while maintaining fire . The " Annibal " lost her third mast on her way out of the harbour , and was slow to follow the " Héros " . The French captured the East Indiamen " Hinchinbrook " and " Fortitude " , and the victualer " Edward " . " Artésien " was the captor of " Hinchinbrook " . Aftermath . Suffren gathered his fleet together outside the harbour to assess damage and make repairs . " Terror " and " Infernal " had gotten out to sea and the French fired on them . Despite being set on fire , " Terror " escaped and her crew extinguished the flames . The French captured " Infernal " , and took out Captain Henry Darby and some sailors and soldiers . Johnstone got his squadron ready and came out of the harbour in pursuit about three hours later . Suffren adopted an aggressive line , and Johnstone , some of whose ships — especially — had suffered significant damage , chose not to renew the battle , and returned to the harbour to effect repairs . However , before he returned , he succeeded in recovering " Infernal " . Her remaining crew had recaptured her while the prize crew were off their guard . Alternatively , her prize crew abandoned her at the approach of the British squadron . Their prize crews also abandoned " Hinchinbrook " , " Fortititude " and " Edward " , and the British recovered the vessels a few days later . Suffren ' s squadron reached the Cape of Good Hope on 21 June , with the troop convoys arriving nine days later . After spending a month there for repair and refit , he left 500 men for the defence of the Dutch colony and proceeded on to Ile de France . Johnstone though still headed for the Cape and arrived in July and at Saldanha Bay took five Dutch East Indies vessels as prizes . He then made his way back to England .