The American Revolution was being decided in Virginia and the Caribbean, but its ripples reached the Indian Ocean with devastating effect. France entered the war in 1778, and Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in late 1780 after the Dutch refused to stop trading military supplies with the French and Americans. British forces quickly seized most French and Dutch outposts in India, sparking the Second Anglo-Mysore War in the process. Into this widening conflict sailed Pierre Andre de Suffren, dispatched to provide military assistance to French colonies in India. He arrived in February 1782 and immediately engaged Vice-Admiral Edward Hughes's British fleet off Sadras. The result was inconclusive. So was the next battle, at Providien. And the next, off Negapatam. Each time, the two fleets battered each other, limped to port, patched their ships together, and sailed out to do it again.

After three inconclusive battles, Suffren faced a practical crisis: his fleet was falling apart, and the exposed anchorage at Cuddalore offered no protection for serious repairs. He had already cannibalized prize ships, transports, and even buildings in Cuddalore for timber and materials. Trincomalee, the deep-water harbor on Ceylon's east coast that the British had captured from the Dutch in January, was the answer. On August 22, 1782, reinforced by two ships of the line and 800 fresh troops from a newly arrived French fleet, Suffren sailed for Trincomalee. Three days later he landed 2,400 men east of the fortifications. Gun batteries bombarded the fort for three days until the wall was breached. Captain MacDowall, the British commander, surrendered on August 30 on the condition that his garrison be transported to Madras. French troops entered the port on September 1. The next day, Hughes's fleet appeared on the horizon -- one day too late.

Safe inside the harbor, Suffren held council with his captains. His second-in-command led a faction that vigorously opposed engaging the British. Suffren, noting that his fleet outnumbered Hughes's, overruled them and ordered his ships out. What followed was three hours of brutal close-quarters fighting hampered by French dysfunction. The heaviest action was at the center, where Suffren's flagship Heros faced Hughes's Superb, supported by five British ships against only three French. Suffren signaled for help, but the captains of Saint-Michel and Annibal -- the insubordinate ones -- stayed away. When Heros's mainmast came crashing down, Suffren scrambled to prevent the British from thinking he had struck his colors. He had fired 1,800 rounds and run completely dry of ammunition, continuing to fire powder charges alone to bluff the enemy.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, the wind shifted to favor the French. Ships on the outer ends of their line, which had seen light action, were suddenly able to bear on the struggling center. HMS Hero lost her mainmast and mizzenmast. Worcester lost her maintopmast. Several British ships were disabled before nightfall ended the fighting. Hughes withdrew toward Madras, his fleet so badly damaged that land commanders recalled troops from the field in case the French attacked the city. Total losses were 82 French killed and 255 wounded against 51 British killed and 285 wounded. Suffren, for the third time, arrested captains for their performance and sent them to Ile de France for punishment. Even the British press acknowledged his plight: the Calcutta Gazette reported that Suffren was poorly supported by his subordinates, and one commentator wrote they were 'unworthy to serve so great a man.' He sailed from Trincomalee on September 30 for winter quarters. The harbor he had fought so hard to take would change hands several more times before history was done with it.