Action of 9 July 1806 The Action of 9 July 1806 was a minor engagement between a French privateer frigate and British forces off Southern Ceylon during the Napoleonic Wars . French privateers operating from the Indian Ocean islands of Île Bonaparte and Île de France were a serious threat to British trade across the Indian Ocean during the Wars , and the British deployed numerous methods of intercepting them , including disguising warships as merchant vessels to lure privateers into unequal engagements with more powerful warships . Cruising near the Little Basses Reef on the Southern coast of Ceylon , the 34 - gun privateer " Bellone " was sighted by the 16 - gun British brig HMS " Rattlesnake " , which began chasing the larger French vessel . At 15 : 15 , a third ship was sighted to the south , which proved to be the 74 - gun ship of the line HMS " Powerful " , disguised as an East Indiaman . Although " Bellone " would normally be much faster than the large British warship , the light winds and " Rattlesnake " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s determined pursuit prevented the privateer from escaping and at 17 : 00 , " Powerful " was close enough to open fire . Despite the uneven nature of the combat , " Bellone " unexpectedly resisted the British attack for another hour and 45 minutes , causing more damage to " Powerful " than she received herself . The privateer was later taken into British service as a sixth rate frigate and prize money was paid for the captured vessels , but the action prompted questions in subsequent histories about the lack of efficiency in British gunnery . Background . During the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars that followed them , British dominance in the Indian Ocean was repeatedly challenged by the depredations of French vessels sailing from the isolated and well protected French colonies of Réunion ( later Île Bonaparte ) and Île de France . Although French Navy cruisers were periodically stationed on the islands , the majority of ships that preyed on British commerce from the islands were privateers , independently funded armed ships issued with letters of marque giving them permission to attack military and civilian ships belonging to the enemies of France . French naval strategy in the Indian Ocean was so reliant on privateers that entire squadrons developed , including a powerful force under the wealthy privateer captain Robert Surcouf . Although most privateers were small , carrying only a few cannon , some could be very large , rivalling professional warships in size . One such ship was the " Bellone " , which carried 34 - guns , a crew of nearly 200 men and was commanded by Captain Jacques François Perroud , a notorious privateer who had caused significant damage to British trade in the Indian Ocean . In 1803 , Perroud had gained significant notoriety with the capture of the valuable East Indiaman " Lord Nelson " on 14 August 1803 . The principle target of the privateers were the East Indiamen , huge and well - armed merchant vessels operated by the Honourable East India Company , which controlled British mercantile operations to the east of Africa . These ships often weighed over 1 , 000 tons and carried as many as 30 cannon , although their crews were not military men and they could not usually resist a determined attack by a well - trained warship . Despite the size and power of these vessels , they were a primary target for French ships operating in the Indian Ocean as they often carried goods worth thousands of pounds : the annual convoy from China alone was worth over $ 8 million in 1804 . To combat these ships , the British naval authorities at Madras tried a number of solutions , including blockades of the French island colonies which failed due to the huge distances involved , armed military convoys escorting the most valuable ships and small fast cruisers patrolling the most dangerous trade routes . One solution tried in 1806 was to disguise Royal Navy warships as the East Indiamen they superficially resembled in the hope of luring French ships into attacking them , unaware of their true identity . In December 1805 , two French squadrons departed Brest under orders to disrupt British trade in the Atlantic Ocean , beginning the Atlantic campaign of 1806 . Several British squadrons were despatched in pursuit , including one under Vice - Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth originally assigned to blockade Cadiz . On 25 December , Duckworth discovered one of the French squadrons , under Vice - Admiral Jean - Baptiste Willaumez , in the mid - Atlantic and gave chase . For the next two days the squadrons sailed westwards across the Atlantic , until Duckworth abandoned the pursuit , believing that his dispersed squadron was in danger of piecemeal defeat by Willaumez ' s force . In the aftermath of the pursuit , Willaumez turned towards the South Atlantic while Duckworth , in urgent need of supplies , turned northwest towards the British West Indies . Duckworth was concerned that Willaumez might attempt to pass the Cape of Good Hope and operate in the Indian Ocean , and so despatched one of his ships to augment Rear - Admiral Sir Edward Pellew ' s small squadron at Madras . This ship was HMS " Powerful " , a 74 - gun ship of the line commanded by Captain Robert Plampin . Battle . On 9 July 1806 , the small British brig HMS " Rattlesnake " under Commander John Bastard was cruising off the Southern coast of the British colony of Ceylon in search of French privateers that had been attacking small British traders , known as country ships , in the region . Most notorious of these was the " Bellone " , known to be operating in the area . In the early afternoon , lookouts on " Rattlesnake " spotted sails near the Little Basses Reef and approached the ship , which turned with the wind and fled to the southwest . Bastard immediately gave chase , and soon came close enough to identify the vessel as the " Bellone " . Although " Bellone " was much larger than the British warship , Captain Perroud was unwilling to risk his vessel in an unprofitable confrontation with " Rattlesnake " and seemed to be making an effective withdrawal when , at 15 : 15 , a large ship came within sight directly ahead . Although it was not immediately obvious to the men on " Bellone " , the new arrival was Plampin ' s " Powerful " , which had arrived in Indian waters on 13 June 1806 . Finding no trace of Willaumez , who had elected to remain in the Atlantic , Plampin briefly anchored at Madras and subsequently cruised off Ceylon . There , following intelligence sent by Pellew , he captured the 20 - gun French privateer " Henriette " near Trincomalee after an 11 hour chase . From information possibly supplied by prisoners removed from " Henriette " or possibly from a merchant ship sailing from Colombo , Plampin learned of Perroud ' s operations and had arranged to meet " Rattlesnake " off the Little Basses Reef . In the hope of luring the privateer into a confrontation , he disguised his large warship to look like an East Indiaman . Perroud rapidly saw through the disguise , and also noticed that while the wind remained strong off the coast , " Powerful " was further out to sea and appeared becalmed . Realising that his only option was to sail between " Powerful " and the shore , Perroud turned eastwards , but the wind gradually strengthened for " Powerful " and by 17 : 00 the ship of the line was within range of " Bellone " with her bow chasers . Although faced with overwhelming opposition , Perroud did not surrender , maintaining a steady cannonade on the approaching ship of the line with " Bellone " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s own stern chasers and occasionally turning to release a full broadside . The variable winds prevented " Rattlesnake " joining the battle and also delayed " Powerful " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s approach ; " Bellone " succeeded in causing casualties on Plampin ' s deck but failed to damage the ship of the line ' s rigging or sails , which would have facilitated her own escape . For an hour and 45 minutes the battle continued with neither ship able to land a decisive blow on the other , until , at 18 : 45 , it was clear that " Powerful " would soon be within range with her main broadside . Perroud surrendered rather than see his ship destroyed . Aftermath . Although the defeat of " Bellone " by such an overwhelming force of professional warships would seem inevitable , the resistance given by the French privateer was considered impressive both at the time and by subsequent historians . Although largely undamaged , " Powerful " had suffered two men killed and 11 wounded , compared to French losses of one dead and six or seven wounded . " Bellone " was also largely undamaged , only surrendering when " Powerful " was in position to open a full broadside . After the battle , " Bellone " was taken into port and subsequently commissioned as HMS " Blanche " albeit with a reduction in class to a 28 - gun sixth rate frigate . Head - money , a reward for the men captured or killed aboard enemy ships , was subsequently paid to the men of " Powerful " and " Rattlesnake " , as was head money for " Henriette " , although in both cases there was a delay in payment until January 1814 . Pellew especially was delighted by the capture of " Bellone " , writing " I reflect with much pleasure on the capture of " La Bellone " in particular , as from her superior sailing , as her uncommon success in the present and preceding war against the commerce , in the Indian and European seas " . Historical reaction to the engagement has focused on two aspects : Perroud ' s bravery in attempting to combat a vastly superior British force and the inaccuracy of Plampin ' s gunnery . Contemporary historian William James described Perroud ' s actions as " extraordinary " and notes that this was the second engagement in the Indian Ocean during 1806 in which British gunnery had proven ineffective , citing an inconclusive engagement on 21 April in which the 74 - gun HMS " Tremendous " had been outgunned by the French frigate " Canonnière " , the frigate escaping pursuit by damaging the larger vessel ' s rigging . He also notes that " Powerful " was able to being six guns into regular use during the engagement as opposed to " Bellone " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s four , concluding that Plampin " might have made a better use of [ the extra cannon ] " . Later historian William Laird Clowes , writing in 1900 , agreed with James ' assessment , commenting that " This action serves to again illustrate the lamentable decline in British gunnery " .