Since the demise of the French Indian Ocean squadron in 1799, the Royal Navy had maintained dominance in the East Indies, controlling the shipping routes along which trade flowed and allowing the rapid movement of military forces around the theatre.

French First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte had long-harboured ambitions of threatening British India, and in 1798 had launched an invasion of Egypt as an initial step to achieving this goal.

The campaign had failed, and the French army in Egypt was under severe pressure by early 1801, partly due to the presence of a British squadron acting with impunity in the Red Sea.

To disrupt British ships supplying the Red Sea squadron the French Navy sent the newly built 36-gun frigate Chiffonne to the Western Indian Ocean under the command of Pierre Guiyesse.

The British commander in the region, Rear-Admiral Peter Rainier, had assumed the French would send a force against the Red Sea squadron and ordered the 38-gun frigate HMS Sibylle under Captain Charles Adam to investigate.

Carefully manoeuvring through the coral reefs, Adam brought Sybille alongside Chiffonne and fought a brief but fiercely contested battle before Guiyesse was forced to surrender.

The conflict, which had begun in 1792, had seen the new French Republic and its allies fighting against a shifting coalition of European powers, of which only Great Britain, recently renamed the United Kingdom, had been consistently opposed to France.

[1] In the Indian Ocean, where Britain maintained a lucrative trading Empire centred on British India, the Royal Navy had enjoyed almost continual supremacy under the command of Rear-Admiral Peter Rainier.

[5] In 1801, a British army landed in Northern Egypt, sparking a short campaign which ended with the Capitulation of Alexandria and the complete surrender of French forces in the country.

Blankett's squadron provided distant support for this effort, sending an army from the garrison of India up the Nile, although this force arrived too late to influence the campaign.

[6] The French however wished to disrupt British operations in the Red Sea, and considered a number of schemes including diverting Ganteaume's expedition to the Indian Ocean.

Passing the British-held Cape of Good Hope, Guiyesse captured the East Indiaman Bellona on 16 June, placing a prize crew aboard and sending the ship to Île de France, where it arrived without incident.

[15] The captured schooner and a small ketch were anchored alongside assisting with repairs and Guiyesse had ordered his men to establish a supporting gun battery on the shore, positioned to inflict raking fire on any ship attempting to engage the French frigate.

The main batteries of 24-pounder long guns were cleared for action and, with his preparations made, Adam gave orders for the foresail set, gliding slowly forward into the complex system of reefs which sheltered the French ship.

[8] In the aftermath of the battle Adam of the Sybille demanded an explanation from the Governor of Mahé Jean-Baptiste Queau de Quincy as to why the neutrality terms had been violated by Chiffonne.

[16] Chiffonne was removed from the reef and repaired, Adam sailing with his prize and two captured schooners on 4 May and returning to Madras, arriving on 22 September,[17] where Rainier authorised the purchase of the ship for the Royal Navy under the same name.

Victor, commanded by Captain George Ralph Collier, was a small ship with an exceptionally heavy armament, mounting 16 32-pounder short-ranged carronades and two 6-pounder long guns.

[21] Collier had been detached from the Red Sea squadron to hunt for Flèche and initially sailed to Diego Garcia to stock up on turtle meat before starting his cruise off the Seychelles.

[23] The next morning Flèche lay ready for action at the mouth of the channel, a revolutionary red flag flying at the mast head and volunteers from the escaped crew of Chiffonne helping to man the guns.