 The Action of 15 November 1810 was a minor naval engagement fought during the British Royal Navy blockade of the French Channel ports in the Napoleonic Wars . British dominance at sea , enforced by a strategy of close blockade , made it difficult for the French Navy to operate even in their own territorial waters . In the autumn of 1810 , a British squadron assigned to patrol the Baie de la Seine was effectively isolating two French squadrons in the ports of Le Havre and Cherbourg . On 12 November , the squadron in Le Havre , consisting of frigates Elisa and Amazone attempted to reach Cherbourg at night in order to united the squadrons . This squadron was spotted in the early hours of 13 November by the patrolling British frigates HMS Diana and HMS Niobe , which gave chase . 
