 The Action of 13 September 1810 was an inconclusive frigate engagement during the Napoleonic Wars between British Royal Navy and French Navy frigates during which a British frigate was defeated by two French vessels near Isle de France ( now Mauritius ) , but British reinforcements were able to recapture the ship before the French could secure her . The British frigate was HMS Africaine , a new arrival to the Indian Ocean . She was under the command of Captain Robert Corbet , who had served there the previous year . Corbet was a notoriously unpopular officer and his death in the battle provoked a storm of controversy in Britain over claims that Corbet had either committed suicide at the shame of losing his ship , been murdered by his disaffected crew , or been abandoned by his men , who were said to have refused to load their guns while he remained in command . Whether any of these rumours were accurate has never been satisfactorily determined , but the issue has been discussed in several prominent naval histories and was the subject of at least one lawsuit . 
 The Action of 13 September 1810 was an inconclusive frigate engagement during the Napoleonic Wars between British Royal Navy and French Navy frigates during which a British frigate was defeated by two French vessels near Isle de France ( now Mauritius ) , but British reinforcements <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>were</mark></a> able to recapture the ship before the French could secure her . The British frigate was HMS Africaine , a new arrival to the Indian Ocean . She was under the command of Captain Robert Corbet , <a href='null_relcl' title='2'><mark>who</mark></a><a href='been_done' title='3'><mark>had</mark></a> served there the previous year . Corbet was a notoriously unpopular officer and his death in the battle provoked a storm of controversy in Britain over claims that Corbet <a href='been_done' title='4'><mark>had</mark></a> either committed suicide at the shame of losing his ship , been murdered by his disaffected crew , or been abandoned by his men , <a href='null_relcl' title='5'><mark>who</mark></a><a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>were</mark></a> said to <a href='been_done' title='7'><mark>have</mark></a> refused to load their guns while he remained in command . Whether any of these rumours <a href='uninflect' title='8'><mark>were</mark></a> accurate <a href='uninflect' title='9'><mark>has</mark></a> <a href='negative_concord' title='10'><mark>never</mark></a> <a href='negative_concord' title='11'><mark>been</mark></a> satisfactorily determined , but the issue <a href='been_done' title='12'><mark>has</mark></a> been discussed in several prominent naval histories and was the subject of at least one lawsuit . 
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