Battle of the Îles Saint-Marcouf
The Battle of the Îles Saint-Marcouf was an engagement fought off the Îles Saint-Marcouf near the Cotentin peninsula on the Normandy coast of France in May 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Dislodging a British garrison on the islands was the main objective for French forces. The garrison allowed the islands to serve as a resupply base for Royal Navy ships patrolling northern French waters. Apart from expelling the British, the French sought to test new equipment and tactics, which had allegedly been developed with an intention of invading Britain.
Rehearsal of a French Invasion as Performed before the Invalids at the Islands of St Marcou on the Morning of ye 7 of May 1798, Thomas Rowlandson
Engraving of the islands in 1798 during the British occupation
Attack of St Marcou—A framed propaganda engraving in which a wounded or dead officer is pulled from the sea by a sailor while soldiers storm the ramparts behind him as their barge sinks beneath them
View of the islands from Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
Îles Saint-Marcouf comprise two small uninhabited islands off the coast of Normandy, France. They lie in the Baie de la Seine region of the English Channel and are 6.5 km (4.0 mi) east of the coast of the Cotentin peninsula at Ravenoville and 13 km (8 mi) from the island of Tatihou and the harbour at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. In addition to the fortifications described below, on the larger island there is a lighthouse that dates to 1948.
Îles Saint-Marcouf from the beach at Ravenoville
Nautilus (1800).
