Battle of Quiberon Bay

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The Battle of Quiberon Bay, Nicholas Pocock, 1812. National Maritime Museum

Date	November 20, 1759
Location	Quiberon Bay, Bay of Biscay
Result	Decisive British victory

Combatants

Britain

France

Commanders

Sir Edward Hawke

Comte de Conflans

Strength

23 ships of the line

21 ships of the line

Casualties

Two ships of the line lost

Six ships of the line lost, one taken

Invasion Campaign 1759
Lagos – Quiberon Bay

The naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire. The British Admiral Sir Edward Hawke with 23 ships of the line caught up with a French fleet with 21 ships of the line under Marshal de Conflans, and after hard fighting, sank, captured, or forced aground most of them, thus giving the Royal Navy one of its greatest victories.

1 Origins
2 Battle
3 Aftermath
4 The rival fleets
- 4.1 France
- 4.2 Britain
5 Sources and references
6 External links

[edit] Origins

During 1759, the French had made plans to invade England and Scotland, and had accumulated transports and troops around the Loire estuary. The August defeat at the Battle of Lagos made the invasion plans implausible, but Choiseul still contemplated a plan for Scotland, and so the fleet was under orders to escape from the British blockade outside Brest and make its way down to the Loire.

During the first week of November, a westerly gale came up, and after three days, the ships of Hawke's blockade were forced to run for Torbay on the south coast of England. In the meantime, a small squadron from the West Indies joined Conflans in Brest, and when an easterly wind came on the 14th, Conflans slipped out. But Hawke was already returning from Torbay, got the reports of Conflans's sailing, and went in pursuit.

[edit] Battle

Hawke caught up with Conflans at dawn on the 20th, just as Conflans was about to enter the treacherous waters of Quiberon Bay. Hawke decided to follow them in, essentially relying on the lead of the French ships and their local pilots; a daring move made even more dangerous by a rising westerly storm.

The shooting began at about 14:00, with the British van attacking the French rear just as they were rounding the Les Cardinaux rocks at the entrance to the bay. By 15:30, the French Formidable was captured, and Superbe had capsized, with tremendous loss of life. As more of the British fleet came up, Héros, badly damaged already, struck her flag and ran aground, while Thesee lost her duel with Torbay and foundered.

The early nightfall of the season forced the British to break off their attack, and they anchored for the night. The British ships Essex and Resolution ran aground and were lost, but the fleet's presence forced the French to desperate measures; more of their ships also ran aground, including the flagship Soleil Royal, which found itself amongst the British ships the next morning and hastily retreated. 7 ships squeezed over the bar into the estuary of the Vilaine River (where they stayed for over a year, 4 being wrecked there), leaving only eight to escape to Rochefort.

[edit] Aftermath

The power of the French fleet was broken, and would not recover before the war was over; in the words of Alfred Thayer Mahan (The Influence of Sea Power upon History), "The battle of 20 November 1759 was the Trafalgar of this war, and [...] the English fleets were now free to act against the colonies of France, and later of Spain, on a grander scale than ever before".

[edit] The rival fleets

[edit] France

Name	Guns	Commander	Men	Notes
First Division
Soleil Royal	80	Capt. B. de Chasac	950	Flagship of Marquis de Conflans – Aground and burnt
Orient	80	Capt. N. de la Filière	750	Flagship of Chevalier de Guébridant Budes – Escaped to Rochefort
Glorieux	74	Villars de la Brosse	650	Escaped to the Vilaine
Robuste	74	Fragnier de Vienne	650	Escaped to the Vilaine
Dauphin Royal	70	Chevalier d'Uturbie Fragosse	630	Escaped to Rochefort
Dragon	64	Vassor de la Touche	450	Escaped to the Vilaine
Solitaire	64	Vicomte de Langle	450	Escaped to Rochefort
Second Division
Tonnant	80	Capt. St Victoret	800	Flagship of Chevalier de Beauffremont – Escaped to Rochefort
Intrépide	74	Chastologer	650	Escaped to Rochefort
Thésée	74	Kersaint de Coetnempren	650	Foundered
Northumberland	70	Belingant de Kerbabut	630	Escaped to Rochefort
Superbe	70	Montalais	630	Sunk by Royal George
Eveillé	64	Prévalais de la Roche	450	Escaped to the Vilaine
Brillant	64	Keremar Boischateau	450	Escaped to the Vilaine
Third Division
Formidable	80	Capt. St André	800	Flagship of De Saint André du Vergé – Taken by Resolution
Magnifique	74	Bigot de Morogues	650	Escaped to Rochefort
Héros	74	Vicomte de Sanzay	650	Surrendered, but ran aground next day during heavy weather, burnt
Juste	70	François de Saint Allouarn	630	Wrecked in the Loire
Inflexible	64	Tancrede	540	Lost at the entrance to the Vilaine
Sphinx	64	Goyon	450
Bizarre	64	Prince de Montbazon	450	Escaped to Rochefort
Frigates and corvettes
Hébé	40		120	Returned to Brest
Vestale				Escaped to the Vilaine
Aigrette				Escaped to the Vilaine
Calypso				Escaped to the Vilaine
Prince Noir/Noire				Escaped to the Vilaine
Other
Vengeance	?

[edit] Britain

Name	Guns	Commander	Men	Notes
Royal George	100	Captain Campbell	880	Flagship of Sir Edward Hawke
Union	90	Captain J. Evans	770	Flagship of Sir Charles Hardy
Duke	80	Capt. Thomas Graves	800
Namur	90	M. Buckle	780
Resolution	74	H. Speke	600	Wrecked on Le Four shoal
Hero	74	G. Edgecumbe	600
Warspite	74	Sir John Bentley	600
Hercules	74	W. Fortescue	600
Torbay	70	Augustus Keppel	520
Magnanime	70	Viscount Howe	520
Mars	70	Commodore James Young	520
Swiftsure	70	Sir Thomas Stanhope	520
Dorsetshire	70	P. Denis	520
Burford	70	G. Gambier	520
Chichester	70	W. S. Willet	520
Temple	70	Hon. W. Shirley	520
Essex	64	Lucius O'Brien	480	Wrecked on Le Four shoal
Revenge	64	J. Storr	480
Montague	60	Joseph Rowley	400
Kingston	60	Thomas Shirley	400
Intrepid	60	J. Maplesden	400
Dunkirk	60	R. Digby	420
Defiance	60	P. Baird	420
Chatham	50	J. Lockhart	350
Minerva	32	A. Hood	220
Venus	36	T. Harrison	240
Vengeance	28	F. Burslem	200
Coventry	28	D. Digges	200
Sapphire	32	J. Strachan	220

[edit] Sources and references

Clowes, W.L. (ed.). The Royal Navy; A History, from the Earliest Times to the Present, Volume III. (London 1898).
Jenkins, E.H. A History of the French Navy (London 1973).
Mackay, R.F. Admiral Hawke (Oxford 1965).
Marcus, G. Quiberon Bay; The Campaign in Home Waters, 1759 (London, 1960).
Tunstall, Brian and Tracy, Nicholas (ed.). Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail. The Evolution of Fighting Tactics, 1650-1815 (London, 1990).
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.