Nicholas Pocock

This scene depicts one of the most celebrated encounters between British and French frigates during the French Revolutionary Wars. The action of 18 June 1793 saw the British frigate HMS Nymphe encounter, chase and capture the French frigate Cléopâtre, which had been involved in successfully raiding a British merchant ship the previous month, off Start Point in Devon. After capture, the Cléopâtre was recommissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Oiseau, and the first single ship duel and capture of a French vessel became a popular and widely-depicted subject in both painted and printed material. Pocock depicted the scene in several sketches and a print.¹

^Admiral Edward Pellew, the first owner of this painting, was captain of HMS Nymphe at the action of 18 June 1793, and was knighted on 29 June as a result of the victory. He was made 1st Viscount Exmouth on 10 December 1816, after leading an Anglo-Dutch fleet against the Barbary states at the Bombardment of Algiers, and appointed Admiral in 1832.

¹ See Greenwich, London, National Maritime Museum, inv. nos PAD8716, 8717, and 8718: https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-112868