Qualla: Action of 18 October 1782

Action of 18 October 1782: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr. The Scipion was winning when she sank. On October 18, 1782, the French 74-gun ship of the line had just pulled off one of the most audacious escapes of the American Revolutionary War - outfighting a 98-gun British flagship, raking her from stern to bow, tangling both pursuing warships together, and then slipping away into the darkness while her enemies sorted out the wreckage. Captain Nicolas Henri de Grimouard had sailed his outgunned vessel through a night-long running battle off the coast of Hispaniola and brought her into the shelter of Samana Bay. Then, attempting to anchor in the shallows, the Scipion struck a submerged rock and went down. The crew survived. The ship did not. It was the kind of ending that would have strained credulity in a novel.

Image: Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama | CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Action of 18 October 1782: Two Strange Sails

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr. On October 17, 1782, a British squadron was cruising off the coast of San Domingo - the 98-gun HMS London, the 74-gun HMS Torbay, and the 14-gun sloop HMS Badger. They spotted two unfamiliar sails and gave chase to the northwest. The quarry turned out to be the French 74-gun Scip...

Image: Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama | CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Action of 18 October 1782: Broadside to Broadside

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr. For six hours the pursuit continued, London gradually closing the distance. At 8:30 in the evening, the two ships of the line finally drew alongside each other and began exchanging full broadsides - the brutal, point-blank gunnery that defined naval warfare in the age of sail. Tw...

Image: Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama | CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Action of 18 October 1782: The Night Chase

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr. At 10:20 p.m., Scipion stopped firing. The British assumed she had surrendered. London tried to come alongside and take possession, but her wrecked rigging made maneuvering impossible. Kempthorne ordered Gidoin to approach the French ship instead - but while the British sorted th...

Image: Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama | CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Action of 18 October 1782: Victory and the Rock

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr. Samana Bay should have been the end of the story - a triumphant conclusion to an escape against impossible odds. Instead, as Scipion maneuvered to drop anchor, she struck a submerged rock and began taking on water. The ship that had outfought a force twice her strength, that had ...

Image: Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama | CC BY-SA 2.0 fr

Action of 18 October 1782: Beneath the Bay

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr. Samana Bay today is known for its humpback whale watching, its mangrove-fringed shores, and its proximity to Los Haitises National Park. Somewhere beneath its waters, the remains of the Scipion rest on the rock that ended her final voyage. The bay has seen centuries of traffic si...

Image: Credited to Auguste-Louis Rossel de Crecy (1736-1804) Photograph by Rama | CC BY-SA 2.0 fr