HMS Seine

The Atlantic campaign of May 1794 was a series of operations and manouveres conducted by the British Royal Navy Channel Fleet and the French Navy Atlantic Fleet to contest the passage of a strateically important grain convoy from the United States to France. If the convoy arrived safely, it would save the First French Republic from famine but if it did not then the government faced collapse. During this period France was at war with all its neighbours in the French Revolutionary Wars and was also in the grip of The Terror, which had decimated the Navy's officer class. Britain by contrast was at a high state of readiness with a well-organised command structure, but had a severe shortage of trained seamen with which to man their large fleet.

The convoy crossed the Atlantic Ocean during April, May and June of 1794, and it was escorted by a French squadron backed up by a larger squadron in the Bay of Biscay. These two forces were to provide close support whilst Villaret de Joyeuse, the admiral in command of the Atlantic fleet, planned to distract the main British fleet, under Lord Howe, long enough to give the convoy time to reach safety. Lord Howe meanwhile had dispatched squadrons of his own to protect British commerce