Le Renard at Saint-Servan

Description of the article « Le Renard at Saint-Servan »

The Renard is at anchor off the Solidor Tower in Saint-Servan on a foggy day. It is a replica of the last vessel of the Saint-Malo privateer Robert Surcouf, a seventy-ton topsail cutter. With its crew of 46 men, armed with four 4-pounder cannons and ten 8-pounder carronades, this ship entered into legend on September 8, 1813, by confronting the Alphéa, a vastly superior English schooner with sixteen 12-pounder cannons and sixteen swivel guns, and a crew estimated at between 80 and 120 men. A long battle ensued, resulting in deaths and injuries, including that of the Renard's captain, Leroux, who lost his right arm to a cannonball. It ceased when the English schooner exploded.