Talk:USS Constellation vs La Vengeance

This Story Needs a Punch Line

What was the effect on the Quasi War? Was this a turning point? Did the French become more respectful? Did it build the morale of the new American Navy? Tx Billyshiverstick (talk) 01:32, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

This action was of no consequence stragegically. Pitot's ship was leaving the Carribean theater for france, and so knocking it out of action did not really affect the strategic balance of forces during the war. If pitot had chosen to stay at curacao when asked to support the french invasion there, it might have helped tip the balance of power in that engagement. But the only reason Pitot's ship was even at curacao and available for the operation was because he was forced by his engagement with truxton to put in there for repairs. His ship was in horrendous condition and crew decimated, so its hard to say if he would have been much use there when the heaviest fighting began anyway. There really was no turning point to the quasi war on a whole, the only decisive campaign was in Haiti during the war of knives, where american naval support was key to defeating pro-french forces there at the siege of Jacmel. Since almost the entire war consisted of single-ship actions between french privateers and american warships or american merchantmen the war never had a decisive conclusion.XavierGreen (talk) 17:09, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Date issue

It says "Both vessels had arrived at Guadeloupe on 10 December, 1800." Since December is after February, this doesn't make much sense, unless it's supposed to be 1799. Brutannica (talk) 17:17, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

You are correct, it is supposed to be 1799. The war was over by December 1800 anyway.74.105.130.90 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:45, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Inconsistencies?

The initial text reads "Truxton's ship sustained light damage and sailed to Jamaica for repairs", but in the Aftermath section, it reads "Constellation had suffered heavy damage with 15 of her crew slain and a further 25 wounded, of whom 11 later died. "

Also, the french ship initially "sought to avoid conflict, and continued to sail with the wind rather than head north as he had originally intended." Therefore, it seems that the result of the engagement, instead of "La Vengeance forced to flee." should be "Managed to flee", since that was their initial intention.

Diego bf109 (talk) 20:36, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

I agree with you, in regards to the damage to the Constellation it was not really all that light. The ship took several broadsides which caused the loss of its mainmast which reduced its speed and maneuverability to the point where the french frigate was able to escape. The ship was forced to put into Jamaica for repairs, but due to the inability of the Americans to get the necessary naval stores it was not fully repaired until it returned to the United States. I think indecisive is enough of a statement in the outcome section, but the fact that La Vengance was delayed in its mission of returning to europe is somewhat significant i suppose. The frigate's presence at Curacao may have helped spur the French invasion of that place (maybe they thought it would tip the balance in their favor), but i am unaware of whether the French authorities in Guadeloupe even knew before the invasion force arrived if the frigate was there let alone its condition.74.105.130.90 (talk) 04:23, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

To the best of my knowledge the presence of the La Vengeance at Curacao had little to do with the invasion of the place. To my knowledge it was the result of the Curacao colonial government banning French privateers from utilizing the colonies ports after a French privateer turned pirate and massacred the crew of an American vessel and sold off her cargo without going before a prize court and because the French believed a British force was preparing to attack the island. The French Colonial government in Guadelope sent a force of Colonial militia which stayed on Curaco peacefully for several weeks while negotiating with the Curacao government which did not acceed to most of its requests, they then appeared to sail off on September 3rd, but then proceeded to land troops and launched a campaign to conquer the island by force on September 4th. The French campaign was supported by a mass revolt of the colony's Dutch slaves.XavierGreen (talk) 20:52, 11 February 2017 (UTC)