- Jean-Baptiste Perrée
Jean-Baptiste Perrée (1761-1800) was a French "
contre-amiral ". He was born inSaint-Valéry-sur-Somme inPicardy . His military career started in May 1794, in September 1795 as a captain "de vaisseau" was taken at the Nile. After liberation, he was promoted "contre-amiral" in command ofAlexandria station in November 1798. In 1799, onJune 18 he was taken again by the British fleet offToulon-sur-Mer , however, he was later exchanged and hence met his fate in time.Premier Consul
Napoleon Bonaparte put his hands in the project to relieve the besieged French garrison inValletta ,Malta and appointed Perrée to the command. The squadron sailed from Toulon-sur-Mer onFebruary 6 1800 comprising "Le Généreux", one of the two escapers from theBattle of the Nile , three corvettes armed as storeships, and one armed storeship, with 3,000 men, arms, food and ammunitions on board. The expedition ended in disaster - in the morning ofFebruary 18 , English ships gave chase to the small French squadron offLampedusa island, at 1.30 p.m. "Le Généreux" soon struck her colours and "contre-amiral" Perrée was killed at the start of the action.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.