Admiral Sir Thomas Graves KB was an officer of the Royal Navy who rose to the rank of admiral after service in the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

The action of 2 January 1783 was a minor naval battle that took place in the Caribbean Sea during the last stages of the American War of Independence. Severe fighting between a Royal Navy frigate HMS Magicienne and a French frigate Sibylle went on for nearly two hours, but in that time both frigates were reduced to wrecks.