Action of 27 February 1809

The action of 27 February 1809 was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. Two French frigates, Pénélope and Pauline, sortied from Toulon harbour to chase a British frigate, HMS Proserpine, which was conducting surveillance of French movements. First sneaking undetected and later trying to pass herself as a British frigate coming to relieve Proserpine, Pénélope approached within gun range before being identified. With the help of Pauline, she attacked Proserpine and forced her to strike her colours after a one-hour fight. Proserpine was sailed to Toulon and commissioned into the French Navy, where she served until 1865. Proserpine's captain Charles Otter remained a prisoner in France until the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition in 1814; he was court-martialled for the loss of his ship on 30 May 1814 and honourably acquitted.