in December 1796. A French fleet, consisting of 43 ships carrying 15,000 troops, had divided mid-Atlantic into smaller groups to avoid interception by the Royal Navy and planned to reform at Bantry Bay. The bulk of the fleet arrived successfully but several ships, including the flagship Fraternité carrying General Hoche, were delayed. While awaiting their arrival, bad weather intervened and the lack of leadership, together with uneasiness at the prospect of being trapped, forced the decision to return to France. Tone wrote of the expedition in his diary, saying that "We were close enough to toss a biscuit ashore in Ahabeg in Berehaven Harbour." The square in Bantry is today named after Wolfe Tone. Bantry Longboat/Bere Island Longboat A longboat used in a French scouting expedition landed in Bere Island and lay in Berehaven harbour for 102 years. It was taken to Bantry House in 1898, moved from Bantry House to Dublin in 1944 and was presented to the National Museum of Ireland. In 1977, it was lent to the Maritime Institute of Ireland who exhibited it at the National Maritime Museum of Ireland, Dún Laoghaire, until 2003. A scale model is now displayed. The longboat was restored at the Liverpool Museum at a cost of €50,000 and is on display in the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, as part of the Soldiers and Chiefs exhibition Betelgeuse disaster On 8 January 1979, 50 people were killed when a French oil tanker, the Betelgeuse, was offloading at Whiddy Island when it caught fire, exploded, and broke into three pieces. The bay has had numerous shipwrecks over the years. In 1981, while cleanup efforts using sonar sweeps for the Betelgeuse were under way, the wreck of the French frigate La Surveillante, which had been scuttled during a storm north of Whiddy Island on 2 January 1797, was found. Rescue services Bantry Inshore Search and Rescue Association (BISRA) provides an emergency lifeboat service to the Bantry Harbour community. Equipped with a high speed rescue RIB BISRA is a declared resource of the Irish Coastguard. Geographical stats United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) code: IEBYT References External links Bantry.ie – Information about Bantry and Bantry Bay Beara Tourism Port of Bantry Bay Integrated Geophysical Surveys of The French Frigate La Surveillante (1797) pdf Byrne Ó Cléirigh Bantry Oil Terminal site Bays of County Cork Ports and harbours of the Republic of