Battle of Grenada The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American War of Independence in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy , just off the coast of Grenada . The British fleet of Admiral Jack Byron had sailed in an attempt to relieve Grenada , which the French forces of the Comte D ' Estaing had just captured . Incorrectly believing he had numerical superiority , Byron ordered a general chase to attack the French as they left their anchorage at Grenada . Because of the disorganized attack and the French superiority , the British fleet was badly mauled in the encounter , although no ships were lost . Naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan described the British loss as " the most disastrous . . . that the British Navy had encountered since Beachy Head , in 1690 . " Despite the French victory , d ' Estaing did not follow up with further attacks , squandering any tactical advantage the battle gave him . Background . Following the entry of France into the American War of Independence as an American ally in early 1778 , French Admiral the Comte D ' Estaing arrived in the West Indies in early December 1778 in command of a fleet consisting of 12 ships of the line and a number of smaller vessels . At about the same time a British fleet under Admiral William Hotham also arrived , augmenting the fleet of Admiral Samuel Barrington . The British then captured French - held St . Lucia , despite d ' Estaing ' s attempt at relief . The British used St . Lucia to monitor the major French base at Martinique , where d ' Estaing was headquartered . The British fleet was further reinforced in January 1779 by ten ships of the line under Admiral John Byron , who assumed command of the British Leeward Islands station . Throughout the first half of 1779 both fleets received further reinforcements , after which the French fleet was slightly superior to that of the British . Furthermore , Byron departed St . Lucia on June 6 in order to provide escort services to British merchant ships gathering at St . Kitts for a convoy to Europe , leaving d ' Estaing free to act . D ' Estaing and Governor the marquis de Bouillé seized the opportunity to begin a series of operations against nearby British possessions . Their first target , the isle of Saint Vincent , fell on 18 June , and d ' Estaing turned his attention to other islands . He had hoped to capture the key British possession , Barbados , but after making no progress against the prevailing easterly trade winds , he turned his attention instead to Grenada . The French fleet arrived off Grenada on 2 July , and stormed its main defences beginning late on 3 July . Terms of capitulation were agreed on the 4th . Admiral Byron had been alerted to the French action at Saint Vincent , and was sailing with a force to recapture it . When news arrived that the French were at Grenada , he immediately changed course to meet them . The British fleet consisted of 21 ships of the line and 1 frigate . Because he was escorting troop transports and was short of frigates , three ships of the line were assigned duty to escort the transports . Admiral d ' Estaing was warned on 5 July of Byron ' s approach , and promptly reembarked most of his troops . His fleet consisted of 25 ships of the line and a large number of frigates and smaller vessels . Admiral Byron was unaware of d ' Estaing ' s full strength , since during his absence d ' Estaing had been reinforced by a squadron from Europe under Toussaint - Guillaume Picquet de la Motte . Battle . The French were anchored off St . George ' s Town on the southwest of the island , and the British approached during the night . D ' Estaing weighed anchor at 4 : 00 am when the British fleet was spotted , ordering his ships to form a line of battle in order of speed ( that is , without regard to the usual sailing order ) , heading roughly northward . This masked the true strength of the French fleet as each ship left the cluster at the anchorage . Believing his force to be superior , Byron gave the order for general chase , approaching the anchorage from the northeast . When Byron finally became aware of the full French strength , he attempted to reform a battle line . As a result , the British attack was disordered and confused . , and two other ships got separated from the main body , and were very badly mauled . " Lion " was forced to run downwind to Jamaica to avoid capture . The French lost no ships and eventually hauled off . The British lost 183 killed and 346 wounded . " Fame " had four killed and nine wounded . The French lost 190 killed and 759 wounded . Aftermath . D ' Estaing returned to Grenada to make repairs , while Byron made for St . Kitts to do the same . The French admiral failed to capitalise on his superior strength to launch further attacks in the West Indies . Byron returned home in August . D ' Estaing , after co - operating unsuccessfully with the Americans in an attack on Savannah in September also returned to Europe .