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The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle which took place during the American Revolutionary War on April 16, 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren.
Both squadrons were en route to the Cape of Good Hope, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean. The British convoy and its escorting squadron had anchored at Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands to take on water, when the French squadron arrived and attacked them at anchor. Tactically the battle was a British victory, since some of the French ships were not ready for action, forcing de Suffren to withdraw. [citation needed]
Strategically however, the French had won the day. Suffren beat Johnstone to the Cape and managed to warn the Dutch, before continuing on his journey to the Ile de France (now Mauritius).
