The Battle of the Saintes was fought from 9 to 12 April 1782 between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy amid the American Revolutionary War.
Starting in October 1781, the French and Spanish navies in the Caribbean joined forces to defeat the British naval squadron at New York City, capture the British Windward Islands, and conquer Jamaica. After the Siege of Yorktown, Comte Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse returned to Saint-Domingue to plan the conquest of Jamaica, which would strike a massive blow against the British economy. De Grasse waited for reinforcements, capturing St. Kitts in February 1782, while Admiral George Rodney arrived in the Caribbean the following month with 17 ships of the line.
On 7 April 1782, De Grasse set out from Martinique with 35 ships of the line to meet with 12 Spanish Navy ships; he was then to rendezvous with 15,000 troops at Saint-Domingue and ferry them to Jamaica's north coast. However, the British fleet intercepted the French fleet en route to Cap-Francais. On 9 April, the faster British ships caught up with the French fleet, and, while the French were victorious in the first round of fighting, De Grasse withdrew towards the Saintes Islands south of Guadeloupe after learning that the rest of the British fleet was on its way. On 12 April, the British attacked the French fleet as it attempted to protect the damaged ships Zele and Magnanime, and the ensuing action saw Rodney pioneer the "breaking the line" strategy. The French suffered heavy losses due to their packing of high numbers of troops on their lower decks, and the waters became infested with sharks as the French threw the dead and near-dead overboard. Eventually, the French fleet began to retreat, and the British caught up to De Grasse's flagship Ville de Paris. De Grasse was forced to strike his ship's colors at 6 PM, surrendering to Admiral Samuel Hood. All of De Grasse's officers were killed or wounded, and only three of his crew were unwounded. The Ville de Paris alone suffered more casualties than the entire British fleet, losing more than 400 killed and over 700 wounded. De Grasse was the first French admiral in history to be captured by an enemy, and he was later paroled from England. However, Rodney failed to pursue and capture the remaining 20 French ships; several French prizes from the battle sunk in a storm while being transported back to Britain. Nevertheless, Jamaica was saved from invasion.