Action of 31 May 1809 The Action of 31 May 1809 was a naval skirmish in the Bay of Bengal during the Napoleonic Wars . During the action , an Honourable East India Company convoy carrying goods worth over £500 , 000 was attacked and partially captured by the French frigate " Caroline " . The three East Indiamen that made up the convoy fought against their opponent with their own batteries of cannon but ultimately were less powerful , less manoeuvrable and less trained than their opponent and were defeated one by one ; only the smallest of the three escaped . The action was the first in a string of attacks on important convoys in the Indian Ocean by French cruisers operating from Île de France and Île Bonaparte during a concerted campaign against British shipping in the region . Background . In November 1808 , a squadron of powerful French frigates sailed for Île de France under Commodore Jacques Hamelin . This squadron was under orders to attack and capture or destroy British shipping in the Indian Ocean , particularly the heavily armed convoys of East Indiamen that carried millions of pounds worth of trade goods from British India and the Far East to Britain . These convoys were operated by the Honourable East India Company ( HEIC ) , which ran British India and maintained a private army and navy to secure the colony and its trade routes . During the late Napoleonic Wars , French naval strategy focused on the disruption of this trade with the use of fast and well - armed frigates to operate independently along British trade routes and capture British merchant ships . This affected the British economy , which was already severely stretched by the war , and forced the Royal Navy to divert resources to distant parts of the world to protect British trade . During the late spring of 1809 , following the end of the Indian Ocean hurricane season , Hamelin ordered his ships to operate in the Bay of Bengal . One of these frigates was the 40 - gun " Caroline " , which was built in Antwerp in 1806 and weighed 1 , 078 tons . " Caroline " was commanded by Jean - Baptiste - Henri Féretier , newly promoted following the sudden death of her previous captain . Féretier was the first of Hamelin ' s captains to find a British convoy , spotting three sails on the horizon on 31 May . These belonged to a Britain - bound convoy of East Indiamen , which had departed the Hooghly River on 2 May . Laden with over £500 , 000 worth of silk and other trade goods , these ships were an important asset to the HEIC and had originally been part of a larger convoy , guarded by the sloop HMS " Victor " and consisting of five Indiamen and several smaller vessels . On 24 May a storm divided the convoy ; " Victor " , the small ships and two of the Indiamen " Monarch " and " Earl Spencer " were separated from the remainder , the " Streatham " , " Europe " and " Lord Keith " after " Monarch " sprang a leak . The Indiamen were not unprotected : each one was large and powerfully built and carried a number of cannon . " Streatham " and " Europe " weighed over 800 tons each and carried 30 cannon , whereas the smaller " Lord Keith " was 600 tons and carried 12 guns . Four years earlier , a convoy of East Indiamen had driven off a French ship of the line and attached frigates under Admiral Linois in similar waters by forming a battle line and firing on their opponents as they closed . The crews of these East Indiamen were not of Royal Navy standard , however , with insufficient training and large numbers of Chinese and lascar seamen , who proved unreliable in combat . Battle . One of the smaller ships from the convoy , an American merchant ship named " Silenus " , had separated from the main body in the storm and arrived at the Nicobar Islands . There she had encountered " Caroline " and the American captain had reported the location and value of the convoy to Féretier . Setting all sail , Féretier took " Caroline " to the north - west , and sighted the convoy at 05 : 30 , only a few days after leaving the Nicobar Islands . The British ships , under the loose command of John Dale in " Streatham " , originally mistook the French frigate for the missing " Victor " and it was not until another half hour had passed that Dale realised the danger his ships were in . Ordering the Indiamen to form a line of battle , Dale placed his ship in the centre , with the small " Lord Keith " ahead and " Europe " behind . However , the lack of naval experience on the British ships resulted in the Indiamen sailing too far from one another in line , thus leaving them unable to provide effective mutual support . Able to attack the HEIC ships individually , " Caroline " pulled alongside " Europe " at 06 : 30 and began a heavy fire into the merchant ship , which intermittently replied with her available guns . Within 30 minutes , " Europe " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s rigging was tattered , many of her guns dismounted and a number of her crew wounded or killed . Moving past his now disabled opponent , Féretier next attacked " Streatham " , which had slowed in an unsuccessful attempt to support " Europe " . Now alone against the frigate , " Streatham " came under heavy fire at 07 : 00 and by 08 : 00 was badly damaged , with casualties in her crew , her guns all dismounted and her lascars hiding below decks . With further resistance hopeless , Dale hauled down the company flag and surrendered . During the engagement between " Streatham " and " Caroline " , " Lord Keith " and " Europe " had fired sporadically at the French ship with little effect . Pulling away from his surrendered opponent , Féretier then fired on " Lord Keith " , whose captain , Peter Campbell , realised that his ship stood no chance against the frigate and turned eastward , running before the wind to escape despite suffering severe damage to " Lord Keith " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > rigging as he did so . William Gelston , captain of " Europe " , also attempted to flee , but his battered ship was in no condition to outrun the virtually untouched frigate , and he surrendered at 10 : 00 . " Lord Keith " eventually arrived safely at Penang on 9 June . Casualties on the British ships were six killed and at least four wounded , while the French lost one killed and three wounded . Aftermath . Féretier repaired his captures at sea and returned to Île de France , arriving two months later on 22 July . Discovering the presence of a British frigate squadron under Josias Rowley off Port Louis , Féretier diverted to Saint Paul on Île Bonaparte . Among the goods removed from the ships were the £500 , 000 worth of silk , which was stored in warehouses near the docks . In the British raid on Saint Paul on 21 September 1809 , these warehouses and their contents were burnt and " Caroline " , " Streatham " and " Europe " all captured by the raiding force . Despite these subsequent losses , Féretier was highly commended for his leadership in the action and received a promotion from Governor Charles Decaen . He also received letters from the captains of " Streatham " and " Europe " , thanking him for his attention and courtesy to their crews and passengers during their period of captivity .