Action of 21 July 1781 Combat naval en vue de Louisbourg | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
![]() Combat Naval A La Hauteur De Louisbourg, Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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![]() Rupert George Richard Peter Tonge (POW) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2 frigates | 6 frigates | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
6 killed 34 wounded |
17 killed 48 wounded 2 frigates captured |
The action of 21 July 1781 (French: Combat naval en vue de Louisbourg, or Combat naval à la hauteur de Louisbourg) was a naval skirmish off the harbour of Spanish River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (present-day Sydney, Nova Scotia), during the War of American Independence. Two light frigates of the French Navy, captained by La Pérouse and Latouche Tréville, engaged a convoy of 18 British ships and their Royal Navy escorts. The French captured two of the British escorts while the remainder of the British convoy escaped.