The opposing forces were approximately equal in size, but the French, under orders to operate against commerce, not engage British warships, attempted to retreat.

In 1794 seven French ships of the line had been lost at the battle of the Glorious First of June, and early the following year five more were wrecked by winter storms during the disastrous Croisière du Grand Hiver campaign.

The French Navy instead embarked on a strategy of interference with British commerce, the majority of which by necessity passed through the Western Approaches and the English Channel.

This campaign was conducted principally by privateers and small squadrons of frigates operating from Brest and other smaller ports on the French Atlantic and Channel coasts.

[7] Tamise in particular had proven a highly effective commerce raider, recorded as capturing twenty merchant ships since her enforced change of allegiance.

Both British frigates passed the corvette at distance, although the smaller vessel remained in sight for sometime, eventually departing to attack a merchant sloop sailing nearby.

Running at speed away from their compatriots, Tamise and Santa Margarita exchanged broadsides for 20 minutes until Fradin, his ship badly damaged and his crew suffering heavy casualties, was forced to strike his colours.

Without the need to support the slower Tamise, Moulston was able to spread more sail and Tribune pulled ahead of her opponent during the afternoon the ships passing Tuskar Rock on the Wexford Coast.

Under cover of smoke, Moulston then attempted to escape by pulling Tribune back and turning across Unicorn's stern, seeking to rake the British frigate and move to windward.

[10] From this vantage point the fire from Unicorn succeeded in collapsing the foremast and mainmast on Tribune and shooting away the mizen topmast, rendering the French ship unmanageable.

Pevrieux was searching for Moulston's squadron, and allowed his ship to close with the newcomer before discovering that it was the patrolling 36-gun British frigate HMS Dryad under Captain Lord Amelius Beauclerk.

[15] On Proserpine casualties mounted quickly, and although her sails and rigging remained largely intact, significant damage to the hull and heavy losses among the crew convinced Pevrieux to surrender at 21:45.

[17] In James' opinion, had Pevrieux opted to use his initial advantage of the weather gage to attack Dryad directly rather than attempt to escape he might have been able to defeat the British frigate.

On 22 August a squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren drove ashore and destroyed the French frigate Andromaque at the Gironde,[22] and on 24 October Santa Margarita successfully chased down and captured two heavily armed privateers in the same region as the action in June.

Like their winter campaign of two years previously, and for much the same reasons, this ended in disaster with 12 ships wrecked or captured and thousands of soldiers and sailors drowned without a single successful landing.