Action of 27 February 1809

Action of 27 February 1809
	Part of the Napoleonic Wars
	; Capture of HMS Proserpine by Pénélope and Pauline. Watercolour by Antoine Roux.
Date	27 February 1809
Location	12 nautical miles (22 km) off Cape Sicié, near Toulon
Result	French victory
Belligerents
First French Empire	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Captain Bernard Dubourdieu; Captain François-Gilles Montfort	Captain Charles Otter
Strength
Pénélope; Pauline; Later 2 ships of the line supporting	HMS Proserpine
Casualties and losses
None	one killed, one mortally wounded, 11 lightly wounded.; Proserpine captured

The action of 27 February 1809 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars. Two 44-gun frigates, Pénélope and Pauline, sortied from Toulon harbour to chase a British frigate, HMS Proserpine, which was conducting surveillance of French movements. First sneaking undetected and later trying to pass herself as a British frigate coming to relieve Proserpine, Pénélope approached within gun range before being identified. With the help of Pauline, she subdued Proserpine and forced her to surrender after a one-hour fight.

Proserpine was sailed to Toulon and commissioned in the French Navy, where she served until 1865. Captain Otter remained a prisoner in France until the end of the war; he was court martialed for the loss of his ship on 30 May 1814, and honourably acquitted.

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