User:Jackyd101/Workbox7

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This will be a timeline of the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars.

Year Adriatic Napoleonic Wars
1807
  • 23 August, British brig HMS Weasel arrives off Corfu to liase with the Russian garrison. As the boats approach the harbour, a Russian boat meets them and informs the British officers that the French army has taken possession of the island.[1]
  • 24 August, HMS Weasel spots three small ships approaching Corfu and chases them onto rocks off the island, where they are wrecked. Three other vessels are spotted minutes later and Weasel pursues these too, capturing them and the 250 French soldiers aboard. Later in the afternoon a French dispatch vessel is also taken and burnt, before Weasel returns to Malta with news of the French seizure of Corfu.[1]
  • 7 October, British sixth rate HMS Porcupine chases Italian gunboat Safo into Zupiano. In the evening, boats from Porcupine enter the harbour and seize the gunboat as well as a smaller vessel dspatched to protect it.[2]
  • 25 October, Boats from HMS Herald attack and capture the French privateer César from the anchorage under the fortress at Otranto.[3]
  • 27 November, The cutter from HMS Porcupine raids Ragusa harbour, seizing two coastal vessels.[3]
  • 29 November, HMS Porcupine's cutter attacks the harbour of Zuliano, burning most of the vessels in the port, destroying French military supplies and capturing a coastal merchant vessel. As this attack was concluded, another vessel arrived and was seized. The captured ship was carrying four large mortars and a wide selection of artillery supplies for the island's defences.[3]
1808
  • 2 May, HMS Unite captures the Italian brig Ronco in the Gulf of Venice. Ronco later become HMS Tuscan.[4]
  • 31 May, HMS Unite is attacked off Premuda by Italian brigs Nettuno, Teulié and a third unknown. Captain Campbell outmanouveres the brigs and captures two of them. Nettuno later becomes HMS Cretan and Teulié HMS Roman.[5][6]
  • 26 June, British ship of the line HMS Standard, employed in the blockade of Corfu chases and then sends her boats to capture the Italian gunboat Volpe and the French dispatch boat Léger. Despite heavy fire from the shore, the British boats suffer no casualties[7]
1809
  • 8 February, British frigate HMS Amphion under William Hoste and sloop HMS Redwing land shore parties on Melida, seize two merchant brigs and rout local defenders.[8]
  • 14 February, HMS Belle Poule under Captain James Brisbane pursues disarmed French frigate Var near Corfu. Var takes shelter under the fort at Velona, but Brisbane attacks her on the following morning, capturing her. Var later joins the Royal Navy as HMS Chichester.[9][10]
  • 12 March, French frigates Danaé and Flore arrive in the Adriatic carrying large quantities of supplies for Corfu. As they approach the island, the small British brig HMS Kingfisher spots and shadows them, signalling the nearby frigate HMS Topaze which closes with the French frigates. The French round the island of Paxo and exchange shots with Topaze for several hours before reaching the harbour at Corfu safely.[11][10]
  • 1 April, Boats from HMS Mercury raid Rovigno and seize the gunboat Léda under heavy fire.[12][10]
  • 23 April, HMS Amphion, HMS Spartan and HMS Mercury land shore parties at Pesaro near Venice and rout the defenders. Landing parties capture 13 vessels, burn others and blow up Pesaro Castle.[13][10]
  • 2 May, HMS Spartan under Jaheel Brenton and HMS Mercury attack Cesenatico, drive off the defenders, capture 12 vessels and blow up the castle and gun batteries.[14][10]
  • 15 May, A shore party from HMS Mercury attack Rotti and burn seven coastal vessels in the harbour.[12]
  • 31 May, Boats from HMS Topaze raid a sheltered anchorage at Demata on Santa Maura, seizing nine French gunboats for one man killed and another wounded.[15]
  • 28 July, Boats from HMS Excellent and sloops HMS Acorn and HMS Bustard raid the harbour of Duin near Trieste. Avoiding the fire of the port's gun batteries, the raiders capture six gunboats and ten coastal merchant vessels.[16][10]
  • 27 August, HMS Amphion lands a shore party at Cortelazzo. The force overwhelms the defences and captures six gunboats and two small merchant ships. Five other coastal vessels are burnt and a gun battery and barracks are blown up.[16][10]
  • 7 September, Boats from HMS Mercury land at Barletta and capture the Neapolitan schooner Pugliese.[10][12]
  • 1 October, A British squadron under John Spranger in HMS Warrior lands 1,900 soldiers under John Oswald on Cephalonia, prompting the immediate surrender of the island's Neapolitan garrison. Within days the nearby islands of Zante and Ithaca have also fallen without a fight while troops from Spartan seize Cerigo.[17][10]


1810
  • 28 June, The boats of HMS Amphion and HMS Cerberus land shore parties at Groa near Venice and attack prepared defensive positions. The defences are taken rapidly and the town seized. French reinforcements are sent from inland, but are ambushed by the landing party and forced to surrender. The raid captures 62 French soldiers and 25 coastal vessels.[18]
  • 29 September, The newly arrived French squadron of Favorite and Uranie and Venetian ships Corona, Bellone and Carolina under Bernard Dubourdieu makes its first foray. The squadron sails from Chiozzo to Ancona and arrives on 6 October, sighting Hoste's Amphion in the distance.[18]
  • 20 October, Hoste searches for Dubourdieu at Ancona, but the French commodore has already sailed on 18 October. Hoste brings his squadron south to search for Dubourdieu on the passage to Corfu. This assumption seems to be confirmed by a Scilian privateer that describes seeing Dubourdieu's squadron sailing to Corfu, but in fact the French squadron arrives off Lissa on 22 October. The squadron lands several hundred Italian troops the next day, forcing the British garrison to retreat into the island's interior. Dubourdieu captures or burns a number of vessels but reembarks his troops and sails back to Ancona after eight hours of occupation when local fishermen inform him of Hoste's return. HMS Cerberus appears offLissa late on 22 October, but Hoste's main force does not arrive until 26 October, by which time Dubourdieu is safely docked at Ancona.[19]


1811
  • 4 February, British frigates HMS Cerberus and HMS Active raid along the Italian coast, sending boats into Pescara to size four coastal merchant ships sheltering in the harbour.[20]
  • 12 February, Boats of HMS Cerberus and HMS Active land sailors and marines near Ortona, seizing an armed trabaccolo and storming the defences from the cliffs overlooking them. Despite heavy fire, only four British saolirs were wounded. In the harbour the raiding pary captured ten coastal vessels and burnt two magazines filled with supplies intended for the garrison of Corfu.[21]
  • 11 March, The Battle of Lissa. The French frigate squadron under Dubourdieu that had wintered in Ancona emerged to conduct a second invasion of Lissa, this time intended to be permanent. Dubourdieu mustered six French and Italian frigates and numerous smaller ships, carrying over 500 Italian soldiers. The French force was spotted by Hoste's British squadron before they reached the island and the two forces fought a battle off the northern coast of the island. Early in the action Dubourdieu was killed by fire from Hoste's flagship Amphion and his flagship Favorite was driven ashore and wrecked. The action then became general, with the French force initially engaging but then scattering after Amphion forced the surrender of Flore and Bellone. Corona was chased down and captured by Active, but the rest of the squadron subsequently escaped, including Flore, which had not been boarded by a British prize crew. The action ended the last French attempt to contest superiority in the Adriatic.[22]
  • 25 March, French frigates Adrienne and Amélie leave Toulon with the storeship Dromedaire carrying supplies for Corfu. The squadron is attacked by a British squadron under Robert Otway in HMS Ajax and driven into Porto Ferrajo. The slow Dromedaire is outrun by the pursuers on 30 March however and is captured.[23]
  • 4 May, Boats from HMS Belle Poule and HMS Alceste lattack Parenza harbour where a French brig carrying supplies to the survivors of the Battle of Lissa is sheltering. Seizing an island at the mouth of the harbour, the British ships fire mortar shells onto the brig until it catches fire and sinks.[24]
  • 27 November, HMS Eagle chases French frigate Uranie, disarmed frigate Corceyre and corvette Scemplone near Fano. Uranie and Scemplone escape but Corceyre is captured.[25][26]
  • 28 November, Action of 28 November 1811. A French convoy consisting of frigates Pauline, Pomone and armed storeship Persanne sailed north from Corfu to Trieste with a cargo of over 200 cannon. As they passed the Dalmatian Islands they were chased and caught by a British frigate squadron under Captain Murray Maxwell in HMS Alceste. The French ships attempted to escape but Pauline and Persanne were both chased down and captured.[27]
  • 30 November, French frigate Flore is wrecked in a heavy storm off Chioggia.[28]


1812
  • 9 September, French frigate Danaé is destroyed by a sudden magazine explosion while docked at Trieste. Losses among the crew are high.[29]
  • 21 December, A raiding party from HMS Apollo and HMS Weasel land at St Cataldo, capture the defensive tower over the town and blow it up.[30]
1813
  • 6 January, HMS Bacchante under the returning William Hoste and HMS Weasel chased five French gunboats off Otranto and overhauled them in turn, capturing all five before they could reach safety.[31]
  • 29 January, Admiral Thomas Fremantle leads an invasion force of 250 men in HMS Apollo and the privateer Esperanza to the island of Augusta. The force lands unopposed and the island's garrison surrenders.[32]
  • 1–3 February, Troops under Admiral Fremantle land on Curzola and march across the island. The French defenders raise barricades in the main town Port Bufalo, but the British force storms and overwhelms the defences.[32]
  • 2 February, Boats of British sloop HMS Kingfisher chased a coastal convoy near Faro, capturing one ship and driving nine ashore, under heavy fire from French troops on nearby cliffs.[33]
  • 14 February, HMS Bacchante chased, caught, captured and burnt the large French gunboat Alcinous near Otranto and took her eight ship convoy.[31]
  • 22 March, A shore party from HMS Havannah land near Vasto and seize a gunboat and burn a merchant ship.[30]
  • 11 April, Marines of HMS Apollo storm Devil's Island off Northern Corfu and seize two grain ships destined for the Corfu garrison.[32]
  • 14 April, Boats from HMS Apollo raid Malero harbour forcing the eight grain ships there to scuttle themselves. The island is temporarily seized by a Royal Marines landing force.[32]
  • 22 April, HMS Weasel fought a running duel with 14 French gunboats and shore batteries around the island of Zirana. Weasel was badly damaged and suffered heavy casualties, but captured three and wrecked three of the gunboats and caused serious damage to the others.[34]
  • 24 April, Shore parties from HMS Apollo land at St Cataldo near Otranto, attack a French barricade and capture 26 soldiers.[32]
  • 29 April Boats from HMS Elizabeth and HMS Eagle captured five vessels and burn another from a coastal convoy near Goro despite heavy fire from the shore.[35]
  • 15 May, HMS Bacchante bombards and destroys a gun battery on Karlebago, seizing shipping in the harbour and demolishing the island's defences.[36]
  • 17 May, Boats of HMS Cerberus board and seize a French gunboat near Brindisi.[32]
  • 27 May, Boats from HMS Cerberus and HMS Apollo attack a well-armed French convoy leaving Brindisi, capturing three gunboats and four coastal vessels.[35]
  • 8 June, Boats of HMS Elizabeth and HMS Eagle land marines at Omago in Istria. The force routs the French defenders, captures four ships and destroys the town's defences.[37]
  • 12 June, Boats from HMS Bacchante landed parties on seven French gunboats and 14 coastal vessels in Gela-Nova harbour in Abruzzi and captured them despite heavy fire from shore defences.[36]
  • 17 June, Boats from HMS Havannah raid Vasto, capturing ten coastal merchant ships under heavy fire.[30] Marines and sailors from HMS Saracen go ashore on the island of Zapano, surprising the garrison and capturing 36 French soldiers, including the island's commander and the commander of neighbouring Mezzo.
  • 20 June, 50 sailors from HMS Elizabeth land at Dignano. The town surrenders without a fight and the party captures the garrison and destroys the town's defences.[37]
  • 3 July, Admiral Fremantle orders a large expedition to attack the city of Fiume. Boats from HMS Milford, HMS Elizabeth, HMS Eagle, HMS Bacchante and numerous smaller ships attack the ports defences early in the morning, carrying them and allowing marines to land in the town itself. A running battle through the city followed, before the garrison fortified themself in a large house. This held out for sometime, until guns from the boats in the harbour were brought to bear, collapsing the building and forcing the French to surrender. Over 90 vessels were captured, many being restored to their local owners while others were burnt or sent to Lissa laden with captured arms and supplies. The city's defences were blown up and the 350-strong garrison made prisoners. British losses were one killed, six wounded.[38]
  • 5 July, The British squadron that raided Fiume under Admiral Fremantle attacked Porto Ré, forcing the defenders to scuttle 13 coastal vessels and destroying the gun batteries at Bocca Ré.[39]
  • 7 July, HMS Eagle bombarded the castle at Farasina into submission before blowing it up.[39]
  • 2 August, Landing parties from HMS Eagle and HMS Bacchante attack the town of Rovigno, drive out the defenders, blow up the defences and captured or destroyed 21 vessels.[39]
  • 4 August, Marines from HMS Milford and HMS Weasel land on the island of Ragosniza, cross it over night and attack the island's battery at first light from the land. The fortification was taken and blown up.[40]James, Vol 6, p. 180</ref>
  • 5 October, Linking with the advancing Austrian Army, Admiral Fremantle blockades Trieste with HMS Milford, HMS Eagle and smaller ships while the Austrians besiege it by land. On 10 October a French gun battery fires on Milford from close range, but the British ship responds and destroys the battery. Over the next week, British sailors and marines land and reinforce the Austrian troops under Count Nugent. British gun batteries support the Austrian attacks and on 29 October the city's castle falls [40]James, Vol 6, p. 180</ref>
  • 12 October, HMS Bacchante, HMS Saracen and several smaller craft attack a French gunboat force off the island of St George that protects the anchorage of Cattaro, seizing all four. The following day the boats of the squadron attacked the island itself and captured it, stationing a garrison to blockade Cattaro.[41]James, Vol 6, p. 181</ref>


1814