Action of 29 November 1811 - Battle

Battle

Casting south close to the island of Augusta (Lastovo), Captain Gordon in Active sighted the French force at 09:20 on 29 November, sailing to the north-west. Initially the French ships held their course, but on determining that the approaching squadron was British, Montfort spread all sail to escape pursuit. By 11:00 it was evident that Persanne could not maintain the pace of the two larger frigates and so turned north-east in hopes of escaping independently. The Active initially gave chase to the smaller ship, but Maxwell recalled her and sent Unite after Persanne, keeping Active and Alceste in pursuit of the larger French ships. At 11:50 it became clear that Alceste would soon catch the heavily laden French ships, and Maxwell sent the telegraph signal to Gordon; "Remember the battle of Lissa", the action of eight months before at which Hoste had raised the signal "Remember Nelson".

The first shots were fired at 12:30 by Persanne close to the island of Pelagosa (Palagruža), but the main action did not begin for another hour, when Alceste and Pomone exchanged shots from their stern and bow guns. By 13:40, Alceste was firing her broadside into Pomone and simultaneously pressing on all sail in an effort to reach Pauline, but this ambition was thwarted when a shot from Pomone brought down Alceste's main topmast, slowing her suddenly and allowing Pauline to pull a little ahead. At 14:00, Active had arrived in action and was also firing into Pomone, forcing Montfort to bring Pauline round to protect her outgunned colleague. By 14:20 the conflicts between Active and Pomone and Alceste and Pauline had separated into different duels, Pomone particularly suffering severely but Active also taking heavy damage, a 32 pounder carronade shot severing Captain Gordon's leg at the height of the engagement.

At 15:05 another British ship appeared on the horizon, the sloop HMS Kingfisher, which persuaded Montfort that he could no longer protect the battered Pomone against superior numbers. Pauline set all sail to the west, away from her opponents who were either too battered or too distant to pursue. Alceste and Active now concentrated their full broadsides on Pomone, which soon lost both masts and was forced to surrender to prevent total destruction. Pauline escaped, later reaching Ancona safely but having suffered severe damage in the engagement.