Action of 18 November 1809

Action of 18 November 1809
Part of the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811
Windham (centre) leading a convoy of British East Indiamen in 1808
Date 18 November 1809 Location Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean Result French victory
Belligerents
France	East India Company
Commanders and leaders
Jacques Hamelin	John Stewart
Strength
2 frigates 1 brig	3 merchant ships
Casualties and losses
None	4 killed 2 wounded 3 merchant ships captured

The action of 18 November 1809 was the major engagement of a six-month cruise in the Indian Ocean by a French Navy squadron during the Napoleonic Wars. Under Commodore Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, the squadron engaged in commerce raiding across the Bay of Bengal. Hamelin's squadron achieved local superiority, capturing several British merchant ships and destroying a factory of the East India Company (EIC). On 18 November 1809, two frigates and a brig of the squadron encountered a convoy of three British East Indiamen bound for British-ruled India.

Windham, the largest East Indiaman of the convoy, took advantage of a disrupted French formation to attack the frigate Manche. The two ships duelled for an hour before Manche disengaged and Windham fled. The other two East Indiamen declined to join the action and offered only token resistance to stronger French warships before surrendering. Windham evaded a French pursuit for five days before being captured by Hamelin's flagship, Vénus. The French immediately began transporting their prizes back to the colony of Isle de France.

A month after the battle, Hamelin's squadron encountered a tropical cyclone that heavily damaged several ships. Vénus survived with the help of the British prisoners she was carrying, who helped bring the ship safely to port. With the squadron scattered after the storm, Windham was recaptured by British frigate HMS Magicienne within a few miles of Isle de France; the other French ships and their two prizes successfully reached the colony. Stewart and his crew were subsequently released in recognition of their assistance during the cyclone. The action was one of three losses of EIC convoys which prompted the Royal Navy to substantially increase their presence in the Indian Ocean by 1810.