The action of 31 March 1800 was a naval engagement of the War of the Second Coalition (part of the French Revolutionary Wars) fought between a Royal Navy squadron and a French Navy ship of the line off Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.
Background
By March 1800, the Maltese capital of Valletta had been under siege for eighteen months following the French seizure of the island in June 1798. Food supplies were severely depleted, a problem worsened by the interception and defeat of a French replenishment convoy in mid-February 1800. In an effort to obtain help from France and reduce the number of personnel in the city, the French naval commander on the island, Counter-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, ordered Counter-Admiral Denis Decrès to put to sea with the large 80-gun ship of the line Guillaume Tell. This vessel had arrived in port shortly before the siege began in September 1798. Over 900 men were carried aboard, and the ship sailed for Toulon under cover of darkness on 30 March.
The Battle
The British maintained a blockade off Malta, then under the command of Captain Manley Dixon (HMS Lion) and Captain Sir Edward Berry (HMS Foudroyant), in the absence of Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson. At 23:00 on 30 March, Guillaume Tell departed Valletta. The patrolling frigate HMS Penelope under Captain Henry Blackwood spotted the French ship at 23:55 and gave chase.
Blackwood's frigate rapidly caught up and began a skillful raking fire on the French ship's stern, to which Decrès could respond only with light stern-chasers. By dawn on 31 March, Guillaume Tell had lost its main and mizzen topmasts and its main yard, significantly reducing its speed. British reinforcements arrived: HMS Lion engaged at 05:00, followed by HMS Foudroyant at 06:00. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Decrès continued to fight for more than three hours. By 08:20, with all three masts collapsed and wreckage obscuring the gun decks, Decrès surrendered to prevent further loss of life.
Casualties and Aftermath
French casualties numbered more than 200 killed or wounded from a crew of over 900, with both Decrès and Captain Saulnier badly wounded. British losses were 18 killed and 104 wounded across the squadron. The battle concluded roughly 21 nautical miles (39 km) southwest of Cape Passaro, Sicily.
The captured Guillaume Tell was repaired, added to the Royal Navy as HMS Malta, and served for many years, including at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805. The French defence was widely praised; First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte presented Decrès with armes d'honneur upon his exchange, and the historian William James later wrote that "A more heroic defence than that of the Guillaume-Tell is not to be found among the records of naval actions." The capture of the ship, the last surviving French ship of the line to escape the Battle of the Nile, contributed to the eventual surrender of Valletta on 4 September 1800.
