BATTLE AT PIRAN . 22nd February , 1812
by Matija Kristan .
It ' s 22nd February 1812 and The Slovenian Tribunal is reporting LIVE from PIRAN where the only naval battle on Slovenian sea is taking place .
Just to let you in on the background of this battle . The French want to maintain control of and protect the Illyrian Provinces on the Eastern shore . To do so the French and Italian governments have begun a shipbuilding program in Venice and other Italian ports in an effort to rebuild their Mediterranean fleet and challenge the British when needed . But the poverty of the Italian government and the difficulty that the French Navy have in manning and equipping their ships have slowed down the building of the ships . As a result , the first ship of the line built in the Adriatic under this program has been just recently completed . Her name is Rivoli . Because of these obstacles , the British have achieved dominance over the French in the Adriatic Sea , and they don ' t want to give it up .
The battle between France and Britain actually started yesterday near the port of Venice and has now spread into Slovenian waters . Jean-Baptiste Barré , captain of the French liner ' Rivoli ' hoped that heavy sea fog would help him to evade being pursued by the British . But as we can see that is not the case at the moment . It is Rivoli ' s first voyage and her crew isn ' t at all well prepared . People are standing along the coast and watching in horror as the Rivoli is being attacked by two British warships . Apparently one of Rivoli ' s escort ships ' Mercure ' has been destroyed by a tremendous explosion , and the others have scattered to avoid being captured by the British .
Well , a little more than six hours have gone by and it seems that the battle is coming to an end . What a disaster for the French ! The ships are so close to shore that everyone can see captain Barré surrendering . Well , that is not at all unusual with over 400 casualties from a crew of over 800 . But the Rivoli will not be destroyed . She will travel to Britain with her adversary ship ' Victorious ', where she will be repaired and able to continue service in home waters .