Pierre Andre de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren (17 July 1729-8 December 1788) was a Vice-Admiral of the French Navy. Bailli de Suffren is best known for his role in the American Revolutionary War, during which he won a series of battles against Great Britain's Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean.
Biography[]
The son of a Provencal nobleman, Pierre Andre de Suffren joined the French naval officer corps as a cadet in 1743. He was captured by the British at Cape Finisterre in 1747 and subsequently served with the altese galleys of the Knights of St. John - a common peacetime operation for French naval officers. The Seven Years' War brought him back to fighting the British, and he was again taken prisoner, this time at the battle of Lagos in 1759. These experiences left him with a conviction that French commanders needed to match the aggression of British naval tactics. Independent command came in 1781, when he led a squadron from Brest to the Indian Ocean during the American Revolutionary War.
Troop escort[]
In February 1782, he took command of a fleet escorting troops to French colonial outposts in India. There he encountered a British fleet under Sir Edward Hughes, against hom he fought several sharp actions. These included the battles of Providien, Trincomalee, and Cuddalore, before peace was declared in April 1783. In these battles, de Suffren showed consistent daring and aggresion, but many of his captains lacked the desire to engage in a close-quarters exchange of broadsides with enemy ships. As a result, the battles were all indecisive, but they sufficed to make de Sufren's reputation. He had been appointed Vice-Admiral of France when sudden death cut shrt his career.