Richery's expedition

Richery's expedition was a French naval operation during 1795 and 1796 as part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The operation was led by Commodore (later contre-amiral) Joseph de Richery and comprised two separate cruises; the first was an operation off Cádiz in Southern Spain in which Richery attacked and defeated a large British merchant convoy with a weak escort, taking many prizes. Forced to anchor at Cádiz, the French squadron was subsequently blockaded in the port for almost a year. Richery was enabled to escape in August 1796 by a Spanish fleet, and went on to attack British fisheries off Newfoundland and Labrador before returning to France having inflicted severe damage to British Atlantic trade.

The operation was launched in the autumn of 1795, following a series of defeats for the French Mediterranean Fleet. Responding to a request from the Atlantic fleet for reinforcements, a squadron of ships of the line was sent from Toulon, with orders to raid British shipping in the Caribbean and North Atlantic and then return to Brest. Command of the squadron was given to Commodore Joseph de Richery in the 80-gun Victoire. The squadron evaded British pursuit, and on 7 October off Cape St Vincent on the coast of Portugal Richery discovered a large British convoy from the Eastern Mediterranean. Richery attacked the convoy, defeated the escort and captured a British ship of the line and 30 merchant ships, carrying his prizes into the friendly neutral port of Cádiz.

Richery was then subject to a blockade by a British squadron until July 1796, when it was temporarily lifted. Taking advantage of the absence of British warships, Richery sailed under cover of a Spanish fleet, separating once at sea and sailing across the Atlantic to the valuable fishing grounds off the British colonies of Newfoundland and Maritime Canada. In a series of devastating raids on undefended fishing communities and shipping, Richery was able to destroy or capture most of the region's fishing infrastructure and more than a hundred British ships before returning to France in November, evading pursuit by British blockade squadrons.