Action of 21 July 1781

Action of 21 July 1781
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Combat Naval A La Hauteur De Louisbourg, Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy
Date 21 July 1781 Location Off present-day Sydney, Nova Scotia 45°54′27″N 59°58′26″W / 45.9075°N 59.9739°W / 45.9075; -59.9739 Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
La Pérouse Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville	Henry Evans † Rupert George Richard Peter Tonge  (POW)
Strength
2 frigates	1 frigate 2 sloops 2 smaller ships
Casualties and losses
6 killed 34 wounded	17 killed 48 wounded 1 smaller ship captured

The action of 21 July 1781 (French: Combat naval en vue de Louisbourg, or Combat naval à la hauteur de Louisbourg) was a naval skirmish off the harbour of Spanish River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (present-day Sydney, Nova Scotia), during the War of American Independence. Two light frigates of the French Navy, captained by La Pérouse and Latouche Tréville, engaged a convoy of 18 British ships and their Royal Navy escorts. The French captured one of the British escorts while the remainder of the British convoy escaped.