Le Renard à Saint Servan Painting

Le Renard is at anchor in front of the Solidor tower in Saint-Servan on a foggy day, according to a snapshot by Philip Clisson. She is the replica of the last boat equipped for the race of the Saint-Malo corsair Robert Surcouf, a seventy-ton topsail cutter. With her crew of 46 men, armed with four 4-pounder guns and ten 8-pounder carronades, she entered legend on September 8, 1813 when she faced the Alphea, an English schooner far superior in firepower, with her sixteen 12-pounder guns and sixteen swivel gunners, and a crew estimated at between 80 and 120 men. Her commander demanded a surrender which was refused. Then began a long fight which caused deaths and injuries, including the captain Leroux of Le Renard who lost his right arm carried away by an English cannonball. It ceased when the English schooner exploded under the corsair fire and sank body and goods in a few minutes.