Bougainville, in the squadron under Admiral du Chaffault. The year after, he was appointed to the 56-gun Flamand, bound for Mauritius, as an apprentice helmsman. Upon his arrival, he transferred to the coastal schooner Fourmi. When Fourmi was condemned, he transferred to the Louise, on which he was wrecked on the reef off Tamarin. Willaumez eventually returned to France on the corvette Les Amis. Service on Amazone Arrived at Lorient, and finding no ship in need for his services, Willaumez went to Brest, where he was quickly enlisted as aid-pilot on the 90-gun Ville de Paris, which in late 1780 was being overhauled. Weary of his inactivity during the work on Ville de Paris, Willaumez requested a transfer on a departing ship, and was appointed as a pilot to the frigate Amazone, under La Pérouse, in January 1781. Cruising in the Bay of Biscay, Amazone captured the twelve-gun privateer lugger Pitt; Willaumez was given command of a prize crew and sailed her to Lorient. He then rejoined Amazone, which was escorting a convoy to America. Upon her arrival, Amazone was attached to the fleet of Admiral de Grasse, and took part in the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782. On 29 July, while sailing at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, Amazone, then under Lieutenant de Moniguyot, met the British frigate HMS Santa Margarita; in the ensuing battle, Amazon lost her main mast, her foremast, struck her colours with half her crew dead or wounded. On the next day, the French squadron under Vaudreuil appeared and recaptured Amazon. Having stayed alone on the quarterdeck of Amazon, and twice seriously wounded, Willaumez was praised by the Admiral and promoted to first pilot. Service on Astrée In 1784, returned to France, Willaumez enlisted as first officer on the 700-ton merchantman Tharon, on which he made two trips to Saint Domingue. On the second time, he saved his ship, which was in danger of being wrecked at the entrance of the Loire. The year after, he returned to the French Royal Navy and embarked as first pilot on the aviso Sylphe; there again, he saved his ship when she sprang a leak after sailing off harbour, and sailed her to Rochefort. In Rochefort, Willaumez transferred on the fluyt Lionne, which sailed to the Caribbean. In 1786, he enlisted on the Forte, and transferred on the frigate Astrée, bound for the Indies. In this