Promoted to captain in 1772, he served under Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing during the naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, taking part in the siege of Savannah in 1779.

Leading a large fleet, he fought five intense and evenly matched battles for command of the sea against British Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes.

Through these battles, Suffren managed to secure French dominance of the Indian Ocean until the conclusion of the war at the Treaty of Paris, although this did not lead to any permanent gains.

[10] In the spring of 1745, Suffren transferred to Pauline, part of a 5-ship and 2-frigate squadron under Captain Jean-Baptiste Mac Nemara,[Note 2] sent to America to harass British forces.

[13] Suffren graduated from the Gardes-Marine in 1747 as an ensign,[4] and worked on commissioning the brand new 74-gun Monarque, under Captain La Bédoyère,[14] in a squadron under Des Herbiers de l'Estenduère.

At the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, Suffren was appointed to the 64-gun Orphée, part of a 12-ship squadron under La Galissonière tasked with ferrying 12,000 men under Maréchal de Richelieu to strike Menorca.

[20] Patrolling between Menorca and Mallorca to prevent British relief to support Fort St. Philip, La Galissonière intercepted a 13-ship squadron under Admiral Byng, leading to the Battle of Minorca.

[21] A relief squadron under Duquesne de Menneville attempted to break the blockade, but was destroyed in the Battle of Cartagena, as La Clue failed to sortie.

[24] In the ensuing Battle of Lagos, Océan ran aground in Almadora Bay and was burnt by the British, in violation of neutrality laws,[25][26] while her crew was taken prisoner, including Suffren.

[30] From that time till the beginning of the War of American Independence he commanded vessels in the squadron of evolution which the French government had established for the purpose of training its officers.

[32] The mission of his force was to support Franco-American efforts in the Battle of Rhode Island by striking a 5-frigate British squadron anchored in Narragansett Bay, off Newport,[29] comprising HMS Juno, Flora, Lark, Orpheus and Cerebus.

Suffren led the 64-gun Artésien and Provence, and the frigates Fortunée, Blanche and Chimère, sailing into the river and forcing the British to scuttle several ships,[37] notably HMS Rose.

The British escort, comprising the 74-gun HMS Ramillies, under Captain Sir John Moutray, and the frigates Thetis and Southampton, fled before the vastly superior combined fleet.

Suffren attempted to give chase, but the copper sheathing of the British warships gave them a decisive advantage, and he abandoned the pursuit to help with the capture of the merchantmen.

The task force comprised the 74-gun Héros (under Suffren) and Annibal (under Trémignon), and the 64-gun Artésien (under Cardaillac), Sphinx (under Du Chilleau) and Vengeur (under Forbin), [42] as well as the 16-gun corvette Fortune (under Lieutenant Lusignan), and seven transports [43] carrying the Régiment de Pondichéry, under Brigadier General Thomas Conway.

En route, Artésien, which had originally been appointed to a shorter mission, found herself short on water, and Captain de Cardaillac requested permission to resupply at Santiago.

Satisfied that Johnstone had renounced attacking the Cape colony, he resupplied and sailed to Isle de France (now Mauritius) with the rest of the squadron, arriving on 28 July.

[54] Furthermore, on 28 December 1778, the 74-gun Orient[Note 9] departed Brest under Thomas d'Estienne d'Orves to reinforce the colony, and on 27 March 1779, so did the 64-gun Sévère, under la Pallière, escorting the transports Hercule and Trois-Amis, arriving on 9 August 1779.

On 9 February 1782, Hughes received reinforcements with the arrival of a squadron comprising the 64-gun HMS Monmouth, the 74-gun Hero, the 50-gun Isis and the armed transport Manilla, under James Alms.

[75] In the morning of 17 February, the fleets were about 6 km apart[Note 12], the British forming a line and had captured Lawriston, while the French were scattered due to an error in interpreting night signals.

[82] Before the battle, Suffren despatched Pourvoyeuse to Malacca, Résolution to Manila, and Fortitude and Yarmouth to Isle de France, to purchase spare spars, food and ammunition to resupply his fleet.

[Note 17] The next day, Fine joined the squadron with a prize carrying British colonel Horn, of the Madras Army, and Lézard brought news of the arrival of Bussy-Castelnau, with the 74-gun Illustre and the 64-gun Saint Michel, on the theatre of operations.

The letter, dated from 22 November 1781, notably carried official approval of Suffren's conduct at the Battle of Porto Praya, granted the requests he had made to appoint his officers, and promoted him to Chef d'Escadre.

[100] Furthermore, a letter from Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, informed him that he was promoted to Bailiff (Bailli) of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

[109] Meanwhile, Suffren received news that Hyder Ali had left Cuddalore with his army to fight in the North, leaving the city vulnerable to a British attack from Madras.

[113] With the return of favourable weather, Suffren expected and feared Hughes's attack, as his own ships were either damaged after long cruises, or had at best only received field repair at Aceh.

On 25 July, the frigate Surveillante arrived from Europe with news of the Peace of Paris and orders to Suffren to return to France, leaving 5 ships under Peynier in the Indian Ocean.

[129] On the other hand, Las Cases, who had served as a lieutenant in the navy, described Suffren to Napoléon as "A hard man, very weird, egoistic in the extreme, bad-tempered, poor comrade in arms, liked of no one.

"[130][Note 18] More recently, François Caron stated "while Chevalier de Suffren displayed an indisputable bravery and an incomparable tactical insight, an analysis of his action shows it to be banal and disappointing.

"[131] Rémi Monaque offers a more nuanced assessment, finding Suffren an aggressive and innovative commander comparable to Ruyter and Nelson,[132] but also one whose lack of didactic qualities and social graces made him misunderstood and disliked by his captains, and thus failed to develop his full potential.