HMS America was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 April 1810 at Blackwall Yard. In 1812 she was part of a British squadron consisting of the frigate , and Swallow when they intercepted a French convoy that had left Genoa on 11 June, heading for Toulon. The convoy consisted of 14 merchant vessels, several gunboats, and most importantly, the brig-corvette Renard, of 16 guns, under the command of Lieutenant de vaisseau Charles Baudin, and the schooner Goéland, of 12 guns, under the command of Enseigne de vaisseau Belin. The British on 15 June drove the French to take shelter at the Île Sainte-Marguerite. The next day Swallow came close to reconnoitre, the other two British ships having to hold off because of shallow water. Although the French escorts came