20 November 1759: The Battle of Quiberon Bay was the most decisive naval encounter during the Seven Years War. France had been at war with Britain since 1756: her position in Canada, India and the West Indies was on the point of collapse and in Europe she faced stalemate against Prussia, which received British support. The battle resulted in the destruction of the French Brest fleet and occurred when the French broke out of the English blockade of Brest. The French planned to land an army of 20,000 men in Ireland. This force was assembled in the gulf of Morbihan in southern Brittany. Admiral Sir Edward Hawkes Channel Fleet blockaded Brest to prevent the French leaving to collect the troop transports, but during a gale in the first week of November Hawkes ships were forced to run for shelter in Torbay, giving the Comte de Conflans the chance to escape. On hearing that the French had done so, Hawke went in pursuit and, on 20 November, sighted him 20 miles out to sea. De Conflans, relying on local knowledge, ordered his fleet to take refuge in Quiberon Bay, south of Morbihan, assuming Hawke would not follow because night was quickly coming and he saw the area was one of ill-charted rocks, reefs and wild seas. This was a miscalculation, for Hawke relentlessly pursued him into the bay, losing two of his own ships on the outer reefs but sinking the French Thesee and Superbe by a combination of gunfire and the weather, and otherwise decimating de Conflans force. The French flagship ‘Soleil Royal’ went aground in the bay and was burnt to prevent capture the following day. A few French ships escaped to Rochefort and some others managed to find refuge in the mouth of the River Vilaine, where they were trapped for months. This action stopped any French plans to invade Britain during the Seven Years War. The famous naval song Hearts of Oak was composed to commemorate the battle, which was fought so close inshore that contemporary accounts reported that 10,000 persons watched it from the coast. The British Admiral Sir Edward Hawke with 24 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 six of them and dispersed the rest, giving the Royal Navy one of its greatest victories, as part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759. In French it is known as Bataille des Cardinaux.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:35:21 +0000
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