Action of 21 July 1781

Action of 21 July 1781
	Part of the American Revolutionary War
	; Combat Naval A La Hauteur De Louisbourg, Auguste-Louis de Rossel de Cercy
Date	21 July 1781
Location	Off present-day Sydney, Nova Scotia45°54′27″N 59°58′26″W / 45.9075°N 59.9739°W
Result	French victory
Belligerents
France	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
La Pérouse; Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville	Henry Evans †; Rupert George; Richard Peter Tonge (POW)
Strength
2 frigates	1 frigate ; 2 sloops ; 2 smaller ships
Casualties and losses
6 killed ; 34 wounded	17 killed ; 48 wounded ; 1 smaller ship captured

The action of 21 July 1781 (French: Combat naval en vue de Louisbourg, or Combat naval à la hauteur de Louisbourg) was a naval skirmish off the harbour of Spanish River, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia (present-day Sydney, Nova Scotia), during the War of American Independence. Two light frigates of the French Navy, captained by La Pérouse and Latouche Tréville, engaged a convoy of 18 British ships and their Royal Navy escorts. The French captured one of the British escorts while the remainder of the British convoy escaped.