The action of 13 May 1779 was a battle in Cancale Bay, near St Malo, between a French and a British squadron of frigates. The French force of three frigates, two sloops, a brig, and a cutter had been part of the escort meant for Karl Heinrich von Nassau-Siegen's invasion of Jersey. When that invasion failed on 1 May the French retreated to Coutances. The British brought together a large squadron of frigates under Captain Sir James Wallace and Captain John Gidoin, which then split in two to attack the French squadron against the coast in a pincer manoeuvre.