alternatehistory.com

Indian Theater

The contest over influence in India was no over between the British and the French in the waters of the Indian Ocean, as the two fleets in the area would come to blows again in the fall. On September 16th, the Battle of Pondicherry was fought between British Admiral Pocock and French Admiral Anne Antoine Comte de’Ache.

Battle of Pondicherry

British Fleet: 7 ships of the line and 4 frigates
HMS Elizabeth (70), Cumberland (66), Yarmouth (64), Tiger (60), Salisbury (50), Hampshire (50), Newcastle (50), East-Indiaman Protector (44), HMS Mary Galley (44), Sylphide (32) (ex-french), and Queensborough (24)

French Fleet: 8 ships of the line and 3 frigates
Orient (80), Zodiaque (74), Duc-de-Bourgogne (64), Venguer (64), Sechelles (60), Moras (60), Duc d’Orleans (54), Le Saint Louis (54), Baleine (32), Diligente (24), Thetis (22)

Despite having a greater total number of guns, the French fleets persistent attempts to target the rigging and masts of the British ships in the hopes of capture, rather than hulls proved their undoing as the British focus on the hulls of the enemy ships in the hopes of sinking or disabling guns and caused far more casualties among the French than they did to the British. After a fierce fight and significant damage to both sides, De’Ache retreated in the face of the British gaining the advantage of the weather.

British Forces: 1/2 of surviving fleet moderately to heavily damaged. Loss of the Yarmouth (64) and the Slyphide (32) (condemned and hulked upon return to India and England)

French Forces: 3/5th of surviving fleet heavily damaged. Loss of Le Saint Louis (54) (sunk en-route to Mauritius)

Results: British Victory

The story of De’Ache’s fleet does not end there. Although new supplies were picked up in Mauritius, and repairs were made, the damage was too extensive to be adequately handled by the island, and De Ache made his way back for France. His fleet was scattered in a storm off Madagascar, resulting in the loss of the Thetis (22), which he reported as lost at sea when his fleet limped back to France many weeks later.

Before he could reach France though, he had to run his damaged ships through the straights of Gibraltar, after a failed attempt at reaching a French Atlantic port, and narrowly escaping British pursuit. Sailing past Gibraltar cost him the Moras (60), which was run aground and burnt on the coast of Morocco, but his remaining fleet made it to Toulon for lengthy repairs.

Unbeknownst to De’Ache, the Thetis had actually made it far enough to ground itself on the east coast of southern Madagascar, with numerous survivors.