Raid on Dunkirk ( 1800 ) The Raid on Dunkirk of 7 July 1800 was an attack by a British Royal Navy force on the well defended French anchorage of Dunkirk in the English Channel during the French Revolutionary Wars . French naval forces had been blockade d in their harbours during the conflict , and often the only method of attacking them was through fireship s or " cutting - out " expeditions , in which boats would carry boarding parties into the harbour at night , seize ships at anchor and bring them out . The attack on Dunkirk was a combination of both of these types of operation , aimed at a powerful French frigate squadron at anchor in Dunkirk harbour . The assault made use of a variety of experimental weaponry , some of which was tested in combat for the first time with mixed success . Although assault by the heavily armed sloop HMS " Dart " proved successful , the fireships achieved little and various other British craft involved in the operation had little effect on the eventual outcome . The French response was disorganised and ineffectual , losing one frigate captured . Three others were almost destroyed , only escaping by cutting their anchor cables and fleeing into the coastal shoals where they ran aground . Although all three frigates were refloated and returned to service , the operation had cost the French heavy casualties . The British force suffered minimal losses , although the exact totals are uncertain . Many of the British officers involved were highly praised and rewarded with promotions and prize money . Background . By the late French Revolutionary Wars ( 1793 – 1802 ) , a string of victories at sea ensured that the Royal Navy was dominant . The French Navy in particular had suffered heavy losses , and in Northern European waters had been forced back into its own harbours by British blockade squadrons . Although large ports were watched by fleets of ships of the line , small ports had their own blockade squadrons too , including the shallow French ports on the English Channel . These harbours could not accommodate ships of the line but were well situated for frigates that attacked shipping in British waters whenever they could escape the blockade . One such port was Dunkirk in French Flanders , which contained a squadron of four French frigates : the 44 - gun " Poursuivante " under Commodore Jean - Joseph Castagnier , the 40 - gun " Carmagnole " and the 36 - gun " Désirée " and " Incorruptible " . Dunkirk was well defended , with gun batteries and gunboats overlooking the harbour . In addition , the port was surrounded by complicated coastal shoals into which the frigates could retreat if attacked . The port was closely watched , it was determined that an attack by a squadron of smaller vessels on the frigates stood a chance of success and a number of ships were instructed to gather off the coast . Captain Henry Inman of the frigate HMS " Andromeda " , had overall command ; the force included HMS " Nemesis " under Captain Thomas Baker and 15 smaller vessels . The small craft included four fireship s , small brig s designed to operate as minor warships until such time as they were deemed expendable in an attack on an anchored target , and the sloop HMS " Dart " under Commander Patrick Campbell . " Dart " was a highly unusual ship : her size meant that she was unrated even though her armament included 30 32 - pounder carronades . The carronades were mounted to a new design that minimised recoil and made them faster and easier to load . The squadron had assembled by 17 June 1800 , but for ten days the winds and tides prevented the operation . The French prepared for any attack by anchoring their frigates in a line running across the harbour from east to west , supported by gunboats that patrolled the harbour . The western - most ships were positioned so that they could make their escape into the channels of the Braak Sands if they came under concerted attack . Inman knew that his largest ships , " Andromeda " and " Nemesis " , would prove liabilities in the narrow harbour . Both remained offshore , their crews dispersed into the smaller ships that would lead the attack , including the fireships HMS " Wasp " , HMS " Falcon " , HMS " Comet " and HMS " Rosario " , the brigs HMS " Biter " and HMS " Boxer " , and the hired ships " Kent " , " Ann " and " Vigilant " ( on which Inman sailed ) . The entire squadron was led by " Dart " , under Campbell , whose target was the eastern end of the French line , the frigate " Désirée " . Battle . Inman ' s squadron entered Dunkirk harbour on the late evening of 7 July 1800 , " Dart " slowly leading the way and the rest of the squadron sailing in a line behind the heavily armed sloop . Inman had crewed the hired ships " Vigilant " and " Nile " with men impressed from smugglers ships , and these men acted as guides for the British force . At midnight the shapes of the French frigates appeared from the darkness ahead and " Dart " gradually passed down their line , until a hail from one of the frigates demanded to know where " Dart " had come from . A French - speaking officer replied " " De Bordeaux " " ( " from Bordeaux " ) and was then asked what the little ships behind " Dart " were , to which the officer replied " " Je ne sais pas " " ( " I do not know " ) . Apparently satisfied with this reply , there were no more questions from the frigate and " Dart " continued its passage until it came alongside the last French frigate but one . Lookouts on this ship recognised the shape of the strange vessel that had appeared out of the night and immediately opened fire , to which " Dart " swiftly responded . Campbell knew that his heavy carronades were devastating at close range , and had ordered them to be double - shotted , meaning that each carronade carried twice the ordinary number of missiles . The effect was immediate , with heavy casualties and severe damage inflicted on the French vessel . The fast loading abilities of the carronades allowed the sloop ' s 15 guns to keep up a steady fire as " Dart " swept on to the last ship in line , " Désirée " . Using an anchor to steady his ship , Campbell placed " Dart " alongside the French frigate , with his bows between the French ship ' s masts . This allowed a boarding party led by Lieutenant James M ' Dermeit to leap aboard " Désirée " and drive the French off the frigate ' s deck in hand - to - hand combat . M ' Dermeit was wounded in the fighting , and called across for reinforcements as the French regrouped in the stern of the ship . Campbell used his anchors to swing " Dart " alongside the French frigate and a second boarding party under Lieutenant William Isaac Pearce charged aboard , routing the French reinforcements that were emerging from below decks . With the upper deck secure , Pearce severed the anchor cables , steered " Désirée " out of the harbour and over the sandbars that were rapidly being exposed by the receding tide . With his target captured , Campbell turned " Dart " towards the second British attack , against the head of the French line . As " Dart " and " Désirée " fought at the southern end of the line , the British fireships attacked the van . The fireships had been stripped of all useful materials and been converted into their original role . Small crews of volunteers set alight to the vessels and all four bore down on the three northern French ships with supporting fire coming from " Dart " and the brigs . The smaller vessels , accompanied by a number of ship ' s boats from the British frigates outside the harbour , attended the fireships and removed their crews once they were alight . Although all four fireships were well - handled , the French were prepared for the tactic and the squadron severed its anchor cables and sailed into the channels around the Braak Sands . This manoeuvre took them past " Biter " and " Boxer " and also exposed them to continued fire from " Dart " , but , despite the damage , all three made the safety of the channel , into which the British could not follow without fear of grounding . One of the French ships did become stuck at low tide , but out of the range of the British ships and it suffered no serious damage . The fireships drifted aimlessly before exploding uselessly , succeeding only in wounding two British sailors whose boat was too close to " Comet " . While the frigates and fireships fought , a host of small French gunboats emerged from Dunkirk and were met by the hired ships , armed as brig s . In a sharp engagement the hired ships lost four wounded but successfully held back the gunboats during the battle . Aftermath . With his principal targets out of reach , Inman called off the attack during the early morning and withdrew his ships . He had lost one man killed and 17 wounded , all but six of the latter coming from " Dart " ( some sources only record the men wounded on " Dart " in the total ) . French casualties were far more severe , with more than 100 men killed or wounded , mostly on " Désirée " , which had taken the brunt of " Dart " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s attack . Recognising that he had no room for prisoners and that many of the French wounded required urgent treatment , Inman ordered the wounded men to be sent back to Dunkirk , although it appears this amnesty was subsequently extended to all the prisoners . By midday on 8 July 1800 the British squadron had returned to its position off the coast while " Désirée " was sent to Britain , later commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS " Desiree " under the command of Captain Inman . Prize money was paid for the captured frigate , but head money , an award made for enemy servicemen killed , wounded or captured , was not paid , probably due to the return of the prisoners . For their services , Commander Campell and Lieutenant M ' Dermeit were promoted , the former transferring from " Dart " into the much smaller sixth rate HMS " Aridane " . The French ships returned from the Braak Sand during the morning and repairs were conducted in Dunkirk . In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " Capture of the Desiree " to all surviving claimants from the action .