Battle of the Basque Roads
Battle of the Basque Roads was a naval engagement fought on 24 April 1809 at Île-d'Aix, in what is now France; it lasted 1 day. It was part of the Napoleonic Wars, which ran from 1803 to 1815. The recorded result: British victory.
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Destruction of the French Fleet in Basque Roads - April 12th 1809.. Thomas Whitcombe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons .
Fought 24 April 1809 lasted 1 day
Where Île-d'Aix, France 46.000N, 1.190W
Outcome British victory
Belligerents United Kingdom against France
Where it sits in the Napoleonic Wars Battle of Platzberg, 1794 Battle of Lodi, 1796 Battle of Spinges, 1797 Battle of Marengo, 1800 Action of 10 December 1800, 1800 Battle of West Kay, 1801 British campaign in the Caribbean, 1803 French capture of Gorée, 1804 Battle of Pulo Aura, 1804 Battle of Vizagapatam, 1804 Raid on Boulogne, 1804 Action of 5 October 1804, 1804 Action of 10 August 1805, 1805 Battle off Cape Palos, 1805 Battle of Diamond Rock, 1805 Battle of Memmingen, 1805 Battle of Ulm, 1805 Battle of Cape Ortegal, 1805 Battle of Mariazell, 1805 Atlantic campaign of 1806, 1806 Action of 26 July 1806, 1806 Battle of Blaauwberg, 1806 Battle of San Domingo, 1806 Action of 13 March 1806, 1806 Action of 21 April 1806, 1806 Action of 9 July 1806, 1806 Action of 23 August 1806, 1806 Action of 25 September 1806, 1806 Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, 1806 Action of 18 October 1806, 1806 Raid on Batavia, 1806 Battle of Golymin, 1806 Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814, 1807 Siege of Stralsund, 1807, 1807 Battle of Eylau, 1807 Siege of Crotone, 1807 Capture of the Jeune Richard, 1807 Java campaign of 1806–1807, 1807 Raid on Griessie, 1807 Invasion of Capri, 1808 Action of 10 November 1808, 1808 Battle of Kock, 1809 Action of 22 January 1809, 1809 Action of 10 February 1809, 1809 Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne, 1809 Invasion of Martinique of 1809, 1809 Action of 6 April 1809, 1809 Troude's expedition to the Caribbean, 1809 Battle of Ratisbon, 1809 Battle of the Basque Roads, 1809 Battle of Stralsund, 1809 Action of 31 May 1809, 1809 Raid on Saint-Paul, 1809 Invasion of Guadeloupe, 1810 Action of 13 September 1810, 1810 Invasion of the Spice Islands, 1810 Action of 3 July 1810, 1810 Invasion of Île Bonaparte, 1810 Action of 15 November 1810, 1810 Invasion of Isle de France, 1810 Battle of Lissa, 1811 Action of 24 March 1811, 1811 Invasion of Java, 1811 Action of 29 November 1811, 1811 Battle of Smolensk, 1812 Action of 22 May 1812, 1812 Battle of Pirano, 1812 French invasion of Russia, 1812 Battles of Vilnius (1812), 1812 Siege of Riga, 1812 Battle of Powiewiórka, 1812 Battle of Mir, 1812 Battle of Ekau, 1812 Battle of Saltanovka, 1812 Battle of Ostrovno, 1812 Battle of Vitebsk, 1812 Battle of Kobrin, 1812 Battle of Klyastitsy, 1812 First Battle of Polotsk, 1812 Battle of Valutino, 1812 Battle of Borodino, 1812 Battle of Mesoten, 1812 Battle of Tarutino, 1812 Second Battle of Polotsk, 1812 Battle of Maloyaroslavets, 1812 Battle of Lyakhovo, 1812 Battle of Czasniki, 1812 Battle of Wolkowisk, 1812 Battle of Vyazma, 1812 Capture of Vitebsk, 1812 Battle of Smoliani, 1812 Battle of Krasnoi, 1812 Battle of Berezina, 1812 Action of 7 February 1813, 1813 Action of 5 November 1813, 1813 Battle of Varvažov, 1813 Battle of Peterswalde, 1813 Siege of Cattaro, 1813 Siege of Zara, 1813 Siege of Antwerp, 1814 Siege of Ragusa, 1814 Battle of Jobourg, 1814 Siege of Ajaccio, 1815 Battle of Montélimar, 1815 Battle of Loriol, 1815 Waterloo Campaign, 1815 Battle of Ligny, 1815 Battle of Quatre Bras, 1815 Battle of Waterloo, 1815 Battle of Wavre, 1815 Battle of Rocheserviere, 1815 Battle of La Suffel, 1815 Battle of the Hospital, 1815 Battle of Rocquencourt, 1815 Battle of Issy, 1815 1794 1815 Battle of the Basque Roads, 1809 116 placed engagements of the Napoleonic Wars in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.
Record
Date 24 April 1809to 25 April 1809 Place Île-d'Aix, France46.000N, 1.190W Kind Naval engagement, Revolutionary and Napoleonic Strength 11 ships of the line; 7 frigates; 4 brig-sloops; 2 bomb vessels; 6 brigs; 1 schooner; 2 cutters; 3 rocket barges ( Battle of the Basque Roads order of battle#British fleet 11 ships of the line; 4 frigates ( Battle of the Basque Roads order of battle#French fleet Casualties and losses 13 killed; 30 wounded 150 to 200 killed or wounded; 3 ships of the line destroyed; 1 ship of the line scuttled; 1 frigate scuttled Commanders
Battle of the Basque Roads Battle of the Basque Roads Siege of Soubise Siege of La Rochelle Allied Siege of La Rochelle Blockade of La Rochelle Siege of La Rochelle Siege of Soubise Siege of La Rochelle Allied Siege of La Rochelle Bordeaux Nantes Poitier 100 km 46.000N, 1.190W The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.
Battle of the Basque Roads is one of 3,694 engagements of the 19th century in the atlas and one of 1,495 in present-day France.
Sources
Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2074041 , released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of the Basque Roads , revision 1370598149, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.
