Battle of Quiberon Bay

Battle of Quiberon Bay
Part of Seven Years' War
The Battle of Quiberon Bay, Nicholas Pocock, 1812. National Maritime Museum
Date 20 November 1759 Location Quiberon Bay, Bay of Biscay 47°31′N 3°0′W / 47.517°N 3.000°WCoordinates: 47°31′N 3°0′W / 47.517°N 3.000°W Result Decisive British victory[1]
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
Sir Edward Hawke	Comte de Conflans
Strength
24 ships of the line 5 frigates	21 ships of the line 6 frigates
Casualties and losses
2 ships of the line wrecked, 400 killed.	6 ships of the line destroyed, 1 ship of the line captured, 2,500 killed/drowned.

Map of Quiberon Bay

The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as Bataille des Cardinaux in French), was a decisive naval engagement fought on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War between the Royal Navy and the French Navy. It was fought in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire. The battle was the culmination of British efforts to eliminate French naval superiority, which could have given the French the ability to carry out their planned invasion of Great Britain. A British fleet of 24 ships of the line under Sir Edward Hawke tracked down and engaged a French fleet of 21 ships of the line under Marshal de Conflans. After hard fighting, the British fleet sank or ran aground six ships, captured one and scattered the rest, giving the Royal Navy one of its greatest victories, and ending the threat of French invasion for good.

The battle signalled the rise of the Royal Navy in becoming the world's foremost naval power, and, for the British, was part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.

Background

During 1759, the British, under Hawke, maintained a close blockade on the French coast in the vicinity of Brest. In that year the French had made plans to invade England and Scotland, and had accumulated transports and troops around the Loire estuary. The defeat of the Mediterranean fleet at the Battle of Lagos in August made the invasion plans impossible, but Choiseul still contemplated a plan for Scotland, and so the fleet was ordered to escape the blockade and collect the transports assembled in the Gulf of Morbihan.

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. Robert Duff was left behind in Quiberon Bay, with a squadron of five 'fifties' (ships of the line with 50 cannons) and nine frigates to keep an eye on the transports.^[2] 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. He was sighted by HMS Actaeon which had remained on station off Brest despite the storms but which failed to rendezvous with Hawke, by HMS Juno & Swallow which tried to warn Duff but were apparently chased off by the French, and by the victualler Love and Unity returning from Quiberon, which sighted the French fleet at 2pm on the 15th, 70 miles west of Belle-Isle.^[3] She met Hawke the next day and he sailed hard for Quiberon into a SSE gale. Meanwhile, HMS Vengeance had arrived in Quiberon Bay the night before to warn Duff and he had put his squadron to sea in the teeth of a WNW gale.^[4]

Battle

Having struggled with unfavourable winds, Conflans had slowed down on the night of the 19th in order to arrive at Quiberon at dawn. 20 miles off Belleisle he sighted seven of Duff's squadron.^[4] Once he realised that this was not the main British fleet, he gave chase. Duff split his ships to the north and south, with the French van and centre in pursuit, whilst the rearguard held off to windward to watch some strange sails appearing from the west.^[5] The French broke off the pursuit but were still scattered as Hawke's fleet came into sight.^[5] HMS Magnanime sighted the French at 8.30^[4] and Hawke gave the signal for line abreast.^[5]

Tracks of English and French fleets

Conflans was faced with a choice, to fight in his current disadvantageous position in high seas and a "very violent" WNW wind, or take up a defensive position in Quiberon Bay and dare Hawke to come into the labyrinth of shoals and reefs.^[6] About 9am Hawke gave the signal for general chase along with a new signal for the first 7 ships to form a line ahead and, in spite of the weather and the dangerous waters, set full sail.^[7] By 2.30 Conflans rounded Les Cardinaux, the rocks at the end of the Quiberon peninsula that give the battle its name in French. The first shots were heard as he did so, although Sir John Bentley in Warspite claimed that they were fired without his orders.^[8] However the British were starting to overtake the rear of the French fleet even as their van and centre made it to the safety of the bay.

Just before 4pm the battered Formidable surrendered to the Resolution, just as Hawke himself rounded The Cardinals.^[9] Meanwhile, Thésée lost her duel with HMS Torbay and foundered, Superbe capsized, and the badly damaged Héros struck her flag to Viscount Howe^[9] before running aground on the Four Shoal during the night.

Meanwhile, the wind shifted to the NW, further confusing Conflans' half-formed line as they tangled together in the face of Hawke's daring pursuit. Conflans tried unsuccessfully to resolve the muddle, but in the end decided to put to sea again. His flagship, Soleil Royal, headed for the entrance to the bay just as Hawke was coming in on Royal George. Hawke saw an opportunity to rake Soleil Royal, but Intrépide interposed herself and took the fire.^[10] Meanwhile, Soleil Royal had fallen to leeward and was forced to run back and anchor off Croisic, away from the rest of the French fleet. By now it was about 5pm and darkness had fallen, so Hawke made the signal to anchor.^[10]

During the night eight French ships managed to do what Soleil Royal had failed to do, to navigate through the shoals to the safety of the open sea, and escape to Rochefort.^[11] Seven ships and the frigates were in the Villaine estuary (just off the map above, to the east), but Hawke dared not attack them in the stormy weather.^[11] The French jettisoned their guns and gear and used the rising tide and northwesterly wind to escape over the sandbar at the bottom of the Villaine river.^[11] One of these ships was wrecked, and the remaining six were trapped throughout 1760 by a blockading British squadron and only later managed to break out and reach Brest in 1761/1762.^[12] The badly damaged Juste was lost as she made for the Loire, 150 of her crew surviving the ordeal,^[13] and Resolution grounded on the Four Shoal during the night.

Battle of Quiberon Bay: the Day After
Richard Wright 1760

Soleil Royal tried to escape to the safety of the batteries at Croisic, but Essex pursued her with the result that both were wrecked on the Four Shoal beside Heros.^[11] On the 22nd the gale moderated, and three of Duff's ships were sent to destroy the beached ships. Conflans set fire to Soleil Royal while the British burnt Heros,^[11] as seen in the right of Richard Wright's painting. Hawke tried to attack the ships in the Villaine with fireboats, but to no effect.^[10]

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". For instance, the French could not follow up their victory at the land Battle of Sainte-Foy in what is now Canada in 1760 for want of reinforcements and supplies from France, and so Quiberon Bay may be regarded as the battle that determined the fate of New France and hence Canada. Hawke's commission was extended and followed by a peerage (allowing him and his heirs to speak in the House of Lords) in 1776.

France experienced a credit crunch as financiers recognised that Britain could now strike at will against French trade.^[14] The French government was forced to default on its debt.^[14]

Order of battle

France

Battle of Quiberon Bay by Richard Perret

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, blockaded there until April, 1762[12]
Robuste	74	Fragnier de Vienne	650	Escaped to the Vilaine, blockaded there until 1761, returned to Brest in January, 1762[12]
Dauphin Royal	70	Chevalier d'Uturbie Fragosse	630	Escaped to Rochefort
Dragon	64	Vassor de la Touche	450	Escaped to the Vilaine, blockaded there until January, 1761[12]
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
Superbe	70	Montalais	630	Sunk by Royal George
Northumberland	64	Belingant de Kerbabut	450	Escaped to Rochefort
Éveillé	64	Prévalais de la Roche	450	Escaped to the Vilaine, blockaded there until 1761, returned to Brest in January, 1762[12]
Brillant	64	Keremar Boischateau	450	Escaped to the Vilaine, blockaded there until January, 1761[12]
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 Aloüarn	630	Wrecked in the Loire
Inflexible	64	Tancrede	540	Lost at the entrance to the Vilaine
Sphinx	64	Goyon	450	Escaped to the Vilaine, blockaded there until April, 1762[12]
Bizarre	64	Prince de Montbazon	450	Escaped to Rochefort
Frigates and corvettes
Hébé	40		300	Returned to Brest
Aigrette	36			Escaped to the Vilaine
Vestale	34		254	Escaped to the Vilaine
Calypso	16			Escaped to the Vilaine
Prince Noir				Escaped to the Vilaine
Other
Vengeance	?

Britain

HMS Royal George, Hawke's flagship at Quiberon Bay - Replica of walrus ivory

Name	Guns	Commander	Men	Notes
Royal George	100	Captain John Campbell	880	Flagship of Sir Edward Hawke
Union	90	Captain Thomas Evans	770	Flagship of Sir Charles Hardy
Duke	80	Samuel Graves	800
Namur	90	Matthew Buckle	780
Mars	74	Commodore James Young	600
Warspite	74	Sir John Bentley	600
Hercules	74	William Fortescue	600
Torbay	74	Augustus Keppel	600
Magnanime	74	Viscount Howe	600
Resolution	74	Henry Speke	600	Wrecked on Le Four shoal
Hero	74	George Edgcumbe	600
Swiftsure	70	Sir Thomas Stanhope	520
Dorsetshire	70	Peter Denis	520
Burford	70	James Gambier	520
Chichester	70	William Saltren Willet	520
Temple	70	Washington Shirley	520
Essex	64	Lucius O'Brien	480	Wrecked on Le Four shoal
Revenge	64	John Storr	480
Montague	60	Joshua Rowley	400
Kingston	60	Thomas Shirley	400
Intrepid	60	Jervis Maplesden	400
Dunkirk	60	Robert Digby	420
Defiance	60	Patrick Baird	420
Rochester	50	Robert Duff	350
Portland	50	Mariot Arbuthnot	350
Falkland	50	Francis Samuel Drake	350
Chatham	50	John Lockhart	350
Venus	36	Thomas Harrison	240
Minerva	32	Alexander Hood	220
Sapphire	32	John Strachan	220
Vengeance	28	Gamaliel Nightingale	200
Coventry	28	Francis Burslem	200
Maidstone	28	Dudley Digges	200

Namesake

HMAS Quiberon was a destroyer named in memory of the battle of Quiberon Bay. She served in the Royal Navy and then the Royal Australian Navy. Quiberon was launched in 1942 and saw operations in World War II. She was decommissioned in 1964.^[15]

Notes

1. Syrett (ed.). The Royal Navy in European Waters During the American Revolutionary War. p. 59.
2. Corbett, Julian S. (1907), England In The Seven Years War vol II, Longmans Green, p. 50
3. Corbett pp52-3
4. Corbett p59
5. Corbett p60
6. Corbett p61
7. Corbett pp63-4
8. Corbett p65
9. Corbett p66
10. Corbett p67
11. Corbett p68
12. O. Troude, Batailles navales de la France, Volume 1
13. N°3 (printemps 2009) - Le Pouliguen
14. Corbett p72
15. Cassells, Vic (2000). The Destroyers: their battles and their badges. East Roseville, New South Wales: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7318-0893-2. OCLC 46829686.

Sources and references

• Charnock, John Esq., Biographia Navalis, Vols.5 & 6 (London 1798)
• 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).
• Syrett, David (1998). The Royal Navy in European Waters During the American Revolutionary War. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781570032387.
• Tunstall, Brian and Tracy, Nicholas (ed.). Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail. The Evolution of Fighting Tactics, 1650-1815 (London, 1990).

External links

• Royal Navy page on the battle