On 1 May 1779 a French invasion force led by Karl Heinrich von Nassau-Siegen attacked the British crown dependency of Jersey, intending to capture the island through a coup de main.

[4] Arbuthnot departed the Channel Islands on 6 May, but left behind the frigate HMS Experiment under Captain Sir James Wallace to temporarily bolster naval forces in the area.

[6][1][8] Gidoin and Wallace decided to split their force to provide the greatest possible chance of intercepting the French ships before they could escape.

[10][11] When Gidoin's force came in sight of the French, they set sail north for St Malo, towards where Wallace was waiting for them.

Unable to continue his assault on the frigate, Wallace redirected his force towards the original group of French ships, which were off to his left, just outside the bay itself.

[10][3] Diane escaped past Experiment back out of the bay, while the rest of the French squadron sailed towards the protection of a gun battery further in.

[12][13] The rest of Wallace's squadron having caught up with him, the British opened fire on the beached vessels for an hour and a half, forcing the French crews to escape to safety further inland.

[7] Being now in the dangerous position of being fired on in an enclosed bay, Wallace was not able to bring all the French vessels off the shore as prizes.

[1] While Wallace's orders were being enacted on the stranded French warships, a battery of six 12-pounders had been erected and manned by the crews of the deserted ships.

The battery began a concerted fire on Experiment that so frustrated Wallace that after Danae had been secured, he took control of the frigate from her pilots.

Experiment had been heavily damaged in the hull and sails by the batteries engaging her, and lost two men killed and thirteen wounded.

[3] While several of the vessels burned by the British were unsalvageable, the French did succeed in rescuing Guepe after Wallace had left the bay,[1] and later recovered Ecluse.