Sean Gunn was on Gilmore Girls.
The Battle of the Iles Saint-Marcouf was an engagement fought off the Iles Saint-Marcouf near the Cotentin peninsula on the Normandy coast of France in May 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars .. French Revolutionary Wars. French Revolutionary Wars. Iles Saint-Marcouf. Iles Saint-Marcouf. Normandy. Normandy. Cotentin peninsula. Cotentin peninsula. France. France. In 1795 a British garrison was placed on the islands , which operated as a resupply base for Royal Navy ships cruising off the coast of Northern France .. France. France. Royal Navy. Royal Navy. Seeking to eliminate the British presence on the islands and simultaneously test the equipment and tactics then being developed in France for a projected invasion of Britain , the French launched a massed amphibious assault on the southern island using over 50 landing ships and thousands of troops on 7 May 1798 .. France. France. amphibious assault. amphibious assault. landing ships. landing ships. Although significant Royal Navy forces were in the area , a combination of wind and tide prevented them from intervening and the island 's 500-strong garrison was left to resist the attack alone .. Royal Navy. Royal Navy. Despite the overwhelming French majority in numbers , the attack was a disaster  : nearly 1,000 French soldiers were killed as the boats were caught in open water under the island 's gun batteries  : several were sunk with all hands .. Heavy fire from batteries and Royal Marines prevented a single French soldier from landing and the retreating fleet was subject to heavy fire from the smaller island to the north , inflicting further losses .. Royal Marines. Royal Marines. British casualties were negligible .. Although this operation indicated the probable result of a full-scale invasion of Britain , the threat remained and British forces began a close blockade of the surviving landing craft that were anchored in the Cotentin ports .. landing craft. landing craft. A month after the battle this strategy resulted in a secondary success when a French frigate and corvette passing along the coast were intercepted and defeated by the blockade squadron .. frigate. frigate. corvette. corvette