On 10 December 1781, a French convoy sailed from Brest with reinforcements and stores for the East and West Indies, protected by a fleet of 19 ships of the line commanded by Comte de Guichen.

[2] The next day, they encountered a British squadron[2] of ships of the line, commanded by Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt in HMS Victory, that had been ordered to sea to intercept the expected convoy.

On 12 December, Kempenfelt's squadron sighted the French convoy, discovering that its protective escort had been strengthened.

Only two of the ships of the line intended for the West Indies arrived with a few transport vessels in time for the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782.

This was the first of a succession of Opposition challenges that would ultimately bring about the fall of the government of Lord North on 20 March 1782 and pave the way for the Peace of Paris the following year, which ended the American Revolutionary War.