The Battle of Quiberon Bay 1759

 My holiday aircraft reading was Nicolas Tracy's study of the Battle of Quiberon Bay, a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near Saint-Nazaire. I picked this up when writing my book on HMS Ambuscade, because although Ambuscade was not at the battle, I realised that I knew very little of the planned invasion of Britain during this conflict. The biography of Lord Anson reminded me that this was in the reading pile.

Writing a book about one battle inevitably requires a lot of context, but in this case, the author has stuck to relevant issues. I hadn't appreciated the challenges the French faced with wind direction in the Channel and the dire state of their finances. The French also had to finance large land armies and a navy, while the British could concentrate their efforts on the Royal Navy, efficiently organised by Anson. The British commander at the battle was Admiral Hawke, who implemented the reforms of hygiene, diet and ship rotation that allowed the Royal Navy to maintain a blockade of the French coast.

Despite these challenges, the threat of invasion was real, and Bonnie Prince Charlie was still a French asset. It was only fourteen years since France had last succeeded in landing him in Scotland, and the Duke of Cumberland’s draconian Highland Clearances were the firm basis for continued anger, and might be the basis for another uprising. However, when the French minister Choiseul met Charles Stuart on 7 February 1759, the no longer very Bonnie Prince was intoxicated, and Choiseul concluded he was indiscreet and rather stupid. It was also a problem that the Dutch had no use for a Stuart restoration, and Choiseul needed Dutch financial support.

The first plan was to make a landing of French soldiers in Ireland, while an army of Swedes and Russians was concentrated at Gothenburg and sailed to Scotland. These two assaults were to be feints. The main assault force would be directed at the Thames estuary and escorted by the Brest fleet. However, the potential allies weren't interested and later plans involved landings in Scotland. These were all too complex and relied on command of the sea. As Tracy says, 'The fact that Choiseul, Nicolas-René Berryer and the Duc de BelleÎle committed the lives of two armies and two fleets to such a dangerous gamble exposes them and the structure of the French Ancien Régime to the gravest criticism.'

Command of the sea was lost at the Battle of Quiberon Bay. The French fleet struggled to prepare for action with a shortage of experienced sailors and almost everything else. It was commanded by Marshal de Conflans, who eventually managed to evade the blockade in poor weather with a fleet of 20 ships of the line. Hawke, with a numerically superior and more aggressive fleet, pursued them despite rough weather. The British attacked as the French attempted to retreat into the sheltered but treacherous waters of Quiberon Bay, known for dangerous shoals and rocks. Hawke boldly followed, showing exceptional seamanship, and caught the French off guard. Twelve French ships were sunk, captured or ran aground, with no British battle losses, although two ran aground. Hawke's battle report concludes, 'When I consider the season of the year, the hard gales on the day of action, a flying enemy, the shortness of the day, and the coast they were on, I can boldly affirm that all that could possibly be done was done.'

© Sémhur / Wikimedia Commons

Tracey described the battle as 'the most dramatic sea battle in the age of sail', while the naval theorist Alfred Mahan claimed that '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 wargaming, my collection is for the Napoleonic Wars. The ships of this period were slightly smaller with fewer guns, but the difference is not that great. Refighting the battle would involve some clever sailing, which will be challenging given my track record playing Black Seas!