Battle of Vizagapatam

18 September 1804, Vizagapatam (Visakhapatnam) roads, Bay of Bengal

Inconclusive; one Indiaman taken and one wrecked, but Centurion survived

Learning that two East Indiamen were loading at Vizagapatam with a small frigate as escort, Linois came north from Ceylon to take them. The escort had in fact been changed to the 50-gun Centurion, whose captain was ashore when the French appeared; Lieutenant James Phillips fought her. The crew of Barnaby cut her cables in panic and drove ashore, and Princess Charlotte stayed at anchor without firing a gun and surrendered to Sémillante. Centurion, armed mostly with short-range carronades and helped at first by a three-gun battery ashore, fought Atalante and Sémillante at close range while Marengo stayed outside the shoals and fired from a distance. By early afternoon Centurion was holed, her rigging cut up and her cable shot through, but Linois would not risk his ships in shallow water and drew off with his prize. Marengo needed six months of repairs at Île de France. Napoleon replied to Linois's excuses that France cared for honour, not for a few pieces of wood.