Frigate Action Scene - French Frigate Cléopâtre Against HMS Nymphe By Donald MacLeod, Oil On Canvas

Description

Oil Painting by Donald MacLeod, size 106 x 76cm.

Scene:
On 19 June 1793, the French frigate Cléopâtre, commanded by Lieutenant de vaisseau Mullon, encountered HMS Nymphe, under Captain Edward Pellew, off the coast of Guernsey. In a short but intense battle, Cléopâtre lost her mizzenmast and wheel, leaving her unmanageable and vulnerable. She drifted into Nymphe, allowing the British to board and capture her in a swift and fierce assault.

Mortally wounded, Mullon tragically attempted to swallow his commission, mistaking it for the ship's secret signals in his final moments. Captain Pellew later sent the recovered signals to the Admiralty.

The battle resulted in 23 British fatalities and 27 wounded, while Pellew estimated French casualties at around 60. Cléopâtre became the first French frigate captured during the war. In 1847, the Admiralty recognized the action by awarding the Naval General Service Medal with the clasp "Nymphe 18 June 1793" to the four surviving claimants from the engagement.

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