Glorious First of June
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The Glorious First of June (also known as the Third Battle of Ushant, and in France as the or )[Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain
and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars
. The British Channel Fleet under Admiral Lord Howe
attempted to prevent the passage of a vital French grain
convoy
from the United States
, which was protected by the French Atlantic Fleet
, commanded by Vice-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
. The two forces clashed in the Atlantic Ocean
, some 400 nautical miles (741 km) west of the French island of Ushant
on 1 June 1794.
The action was the culmination of a campaign that had criss-crossed the Bay of Biscay
over the previous month in which both sides had captured numerous merchant ships and minor warships and had engaged in two partial, but inconclusive, fleet actions. During the battle, Howe defied naval convention by ordering his fleet to turn towards the French and for each of his vessels to rake
and engage their immediate opponent. This unexpected order was not understood by all of his captains, and as a result his attack was more piecemeal than he intended. Nevertheless, his ships inflicted a severe tactical defeat on the French fleet. In the aftermath of the battle both fleets were left shattered and in no condition for further combat, Howe and Villaret returning to their home ports. Despite losing seven of his ships of the line, Villaret had bought enough time for the French grain convoy to reach safety unimpeded by Howe's fleet, securing a strategic success. However, he was also forced to withdraw his battle-fleet to port, leaving the British free to conduct a campaign of blockade
for the remainder of the war. In the immediate aftermath both sides claimed victory and the outcome of the battle was seized upon by the press of both nations as a demonstration of the prowess and bravery of their respective navies.
The Glorious First of June demonstrated a number of the major problems inherent in the French and British navies at the start of the Revolutionary Wars — both admirals were faced with disobedience from their captains and ill-discipline and poor training among their crews. During the height of the combat they both failed to control their fleets effectively, their ships suffering further from a shortage of crewmen and reliable officers. In Britain the conduct of a number of officers was subsequently called into question and one even faced a court martial for his conduct, leaving a lasting legacy of bitterness in the Royal Navy.
in the Austrian Netherlands, and the Austrians and Piedmontese
in Italy
. On 2 January 1793, almost one year into the French Revolutionary War, republican-held forts at Brest
in Brittany
fired on the British brig
HMS Childers.[Note B] A few weeks later, following the execution of the imprisoned King Louis XVI
and his wife Marie Antoinette
, diplomatic ties between Britain and France were broken. On 1 February France declared war on both Britain and the Dutch Republic
.
Protected from immediate invasion by the English Channel
, Britain prepared for an extensive naval campaign and dispatched troops to the Netherlands for service against the French. Throughout the remainder of 1793, the British and French navies undertook minor operations in Northern waters, the Mediterranean and the West
and East Indies
, where both nations maintained colonies
. The closest the Channel Fleet had come to an engagement was when it had narrowly missed intercepting the French convoy from the Caribbean
, escorted by 15 ships of the line on 2 August. The only major clash was the Siege of Toulon
, a confused and bloody affair in which the British force holding the town—alongside Spanish
, Sardinian
, Austrian and French Royalist troops—had to be evacuated by the Royal Navy
to prevent its imminent defeat at the hands of the French Republican army. The aftermath of this siege was punctuated by recriminations and accusations of cowardice and betrayal among the allies, eventually resulting in Spain switching allegiance with the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso
two years later. Nevertheless, the siege produced one major success: Sir Sidney Smith, with parties of sailors from the retreating British fleet, accomplished the destruction of substantial French naval stores and shipping in Toulon
. More might have been achieved had the Spanish raiding parties that accompanied Smith not been issued with secret orders to stall the destruction of the French fleet.
The situation in Europe remained volatile into 1794. Off Northern France, the French Atlantic Fleet had mutinied due to errors in provisions and pay. In consequence, the French Navy officer corps suffered greatly from the effects of The Reign of Terror
, with many experienced sailors being executed, imprisoned or dismissed from the service for perceived disloyalty. The shortage of provisions was more than a navy problem though; France itself was starving because the social upheavals of the previous year had combined with a harsh winter to ruin the harvest. By this time at war with all her neighbours, France had nowhere to turn for overland imports of fresh provisions. Eventually a solution to the food crisis was agreed by the National Convention
: food produced in France's overseas colonies would be concentrated on board a fleet of merchant ships gathered in Chesapeake Bay
, and augmented with food and goods purchased from the United States. During April and May 1794, the merchantmen would convoy the supplies across the Atlantic to Brest, protected by elements of the French Atlantic Fleet.
Since the Spanish Armament
of 1790, the Royal Navy had been at sea in a state of readiness for over three years. Due to extensive preparations under First Lord of the Admiralty Charles Middleton
, the Navy's dockyards were all fully fitted and prepared for conflict, lessons having been learnt from the disasters of the American Revolutionary War
ten years earlier. Then, an ill-prepared Royal Navy had taken too long to reach full effectiveness. As a result the Navy had been unable to support the North American campaign, which ended in defeat at the Battle of Yorktown
due to lack of supplies. With British dockyards now readily turning out cannon, shot, sails, provisions and other essential equipment, the only remaining problem was that of manning the several hundred ships on the Navy list.
Gathering sufficient manpower proved problematic, and was never satisfactorily accomplished throughout the entire war. The shortage of seamen was such that the press gangs were forced to take thousands of men with no experience of the sea, and whose training and preparation for naval life would take quite some time. The lack of Royal Marines
was even more urgent, and soldiers from the British Army
were drafted into the fleet for service at sea. Men of the Queen's Royal Regiment and the 29th Regiment of Foot
served aboard Royal Navy ships during the campaign; their descendant regiments still maintain the battle honour
"1 June 1794".
Despite these difficulties, the Channel Fleet was possessed of one of the best naval commanders of the age; its commander-in-chief, Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
, had learned his trade under Sir Edward Hawke and fought at the Battle of Quiberon Bay
in 1759. In the spring of 1794, with the French convoy's arrival in European waters imminent, Howe had dispersed his fleet in three groups. George Montagu, in HMS Hector
, was sent with six ships of the line and two frigates to guard British convoys to the East Indies, West Indies and Newfoundland as far as Cape Finisterre
. Peter Rainier
, in HMS Suffolk
and commanding six other ships, was to escort the convoys for the rest of their passage. The third force consisted of 26 ships of the line, with several supporting vessels, under Howe's direct command. They were to patrol the Bay of Biscay for the arriving French.
In contrast to their British counterparts, the French Navy
was in a state of confusion. Although the quality of the fleet's ships was high, the fleet hierarchy was riven by the same crises that had torn through France since the Revolution
five years earlier. Consequently the high standard of ships and ordnance was not matched by that of the available crews, which were largely untrained and inexperienced. With The Terror
resulting in the death or dismissal of many senior French sailors and officers, political appointees and conscripts — many of whom had never been to sea at all, let alone in a fighting vessel — filled the Atlantic fleet.
The manpower problem was compounded by the supply crisis which was affecting the entire nation, with the fleet going unpaid and largely unfed for months at times. In August 1793, these problems came to a head in the fleet off Brest, when a lack of provisions resulted in a mutiny among the regular sailors. The crews overruled their officers and brought their ships into harbour in search of food, leaving the French coast undefended. The National Convention
responded instantly by executing a swathe of senior officers and ship's non-commissioned officers. Hundreds more officers and sailors were imprisoned, banished or dismissed from naval service. The effect of this purge was devastating, seriously degrading the fighting ability of the fleet by removing at a stroke many of its most capable personnel. In their places were promoted junior officers, merchant captains and even civilians who expressed sufficient revolutionary zeal, although few of them knew how to fight or control a battle fleet at sea.
The newly appointed commander of this troubled fleet was Villaret de Joyeuse; although formerly in a junior position, he was known to possess a high degree of tactical ability, he had trained under Suffren
in the Indian Ocean
during the American war. However, Villaret's attempts to mould his new officer corps into an effective fighting unit were hampered by another new appointee, a deputy of the National Convention named Jean-Bon Saint-André. Saint-André's job was to report directly to the National Convention on the revolutionary ardour of both the fleet and its admiral. He frequently intervened in strategic planning and tactical operations. Shortly after his arrival, Saint-André proposed issuing a decree ordering that any officer deemed to have shown insufficient zeal in defending his ship in action should be put to death on his return to France, although this highly controversial legislation does not appear to have ever been acted upon. Although his interference was a source of frustration for Villaret, Saint-André's dispatches to Paris
were published regularly in Le Moniteur
, and did much to popularise the Navy in France.
The French Atlantic fleet was even more dispersed than the British in the spring of 1794: Rear-Admiral Pierre Vanstabel had been dispatched, with five ships including two of the line, to meet the much-needed French grain convoy off the American eastern seaboard. Rear-Admiral Joseph-Marie Nielly
had sailed from Rochefort
with five ships of the line and assorted cruising warships to rendezvous with the convoy in the mid-Atlantic. This left Villaret with 25 ships of the line at Brest, to meet the threat posed by the British fleet under Lord Howe.
in the Chesapeake Bay
, where Admiral Vanstabel would wait for them. According to contemporary historian William James
this conglomeration of ships was said to be over 350 strong, although he disputes this figure, citing the number as 117 (in addition to the French warships).
The convoy had also been augmented by the United States government, in both cargo and shipping, as repayment for French financial, moral and military support during the American Revolution
. In supporting the French Revolution in this way, the American government, urged especially by Ambassador Gouverneur Morris
, was fulfilling its ten year old debt to France. Friendly relations between the United States and France did not long survive the Jay Treaty
which came into effect in 1796; by 1798 the two nations would be engaged in the Quasi War.
The French convoy, escorted by Vanstabel, departed America from Virginia
on 2 April, and Howe sailed from Portsmouth
on 2 May, taking his entire fleet to both escort British convoys to the Western Approaches
and intercept the French. Checking that Villaret was still in Brest
, Howe spent two weeks searching the Bay of Biscay for the grain convoy, returning to Brest on 18 May to discover that Villaret had sailed the previous day.[Note C] Returning to sea in search of his opponent, Howe pursued Villaret deep into the Atlantic. Also at sea during this period were the squadrons of Nielly (French) and Montagu (British), both of whom had met with some success; Nielly capturing a number of British merchant ships and Montagu taking several back. Nielly was the first to encounter the grain convoy, deep in the Atlantic in the second week of May. He took it under escort as it moved closer to Europe, while Montagu was searching fruitlessly to the south.
Despite Howe's pursuit, the main French sortie found initial success, running into a Dutch convoy and taking 20 ships from it on Villaret's first day at sea. For the next week Howe continued to follow the French, seizing and burning a trail of French-held Dutch ships and enemy corvettes. On 25 May Howe spotted a straggler from Villaret's fleet and gave chase; Audacieux
led Howe straight to his opponent's location. Having finally found Villaret, on 28 May Howe attacked, using a flying squadron of his fastest ships to cut off its rearmost vessel Révolutionnaire
. This first rate was at various times engaged with six British ships and took heavy damage, possibly striking her colours late in the action. As darkness fell the British and French fleets separated, leaving Révolutionnaire and her final enemy, HMS Audacious
, still locked in combat behind them. These two ships parted company during the night and eventually returned to their respective home ports. By this stage Villaret knew through his patrolling frigates that the grain convoy was close, and deliberately took his fleet to the west, hoping to decoy Howe away from the vital convoy.
Taking the bait, the following day Howe attacked again, but his attempt to split the French fleet in half was unsuccessful when his lead ship, HMS Caesar
, failed to follow orders. Much damage was done to both fleets but the action was inconclusive, and the two forces again separated without having settled the issue. Howe had however gained an important advantage during the engagement by seizing the weather gage
, enabling him to further attack Villaret at a time of his choosing. Three French ships were sent back to port with damage, but these losses were offset by reinforcements gained the following day with the arrival of Nielly's detached squadron. Battle was postponed during the next two days because of thick fog, but when the haze lifted on 1 June 1794, the battle lines were only 6 miles (10 km) apart and Howe was prepared to force a decisive action.
Although Howe was in a favourable position, Villaret had not been idle during the night. He had attempted, with near success, to distance his ships from the British fleet; when dawn broke at 05:00 he was within a few hours of gaining enough wind to escape over the horizon. Allowing his men to breakfast, Howe took full advantage of his position on the weather gage
to close with Villaret, and by 08:12 the British fleet was just four miles (6 km) from the enemy. By this time, Howe's formation was strung out in an organised line parallel to the French, with frigate
s acting as repeaters for the admiral's commands. The French were likewise in line ahead and the two lines began exchanging long-range gunfire at 09:24, whereupon Howe unleashed his innovative battleplan.
It was normal in fleet actions of the 18th century for the two lines of battle to pass one another sedately, exchanging fire at long ranges and then wearing
away, often without either side losing a ship or taking an enemy. In contrast, Howe was counting on the professionalism of his captains and crews combined with the advantage of the weather gage to attack the French directly, driving through their line. However, this time he did not plan to manoeuvre in the way he had during the two previous encounters; each ship following in the wake of that in front to create a new line arrowing through his opponent's force (as Rodney had done at the Battle of the Saintes
12 years earlier). Instead, Howe ordered each of his ships to turn individually towards the French line, intending to breach it at every point and rake the French ships at both bow and stern. The British captains would then pull up on the leeward side of their opposite numbers, cutting them off from their retreat downwind, and engage them directly, hopefully forcing each to surrender and consequently destroying the French Atlantic Fleet.
, Howe's plan began to falter. Many of the British captains had either misunderstood or ignored the signal and were hanging back in the original line. Other ships were still struggling with damage from Howe's earlier engagements and could not get into action fast enough. The result was a ragged formation tipped by Queen Charlotte that headed unevenly for Villaret's fleet. The French responded by firing on the British ships as they approached, but the lack of training and coordination in the French fleet was obvious; many ships which did obey Howe's order and attacked the French directly arrived in action without significant damage.
Although Queen Charlotte pressed on all sail, she was not the first through the enemy line. That distinction belonged to a ship of the van squadron
under Admiral Graves
: HMS Defence
under Captain James Gambier, a notoriously dour officer nicknamed "Dismal Jimmy" by his contemporaries. Defence, the seventh ship of the British line, successfully cut the French line between its sixth and seventh ships; Mucius
and Tourville
. Raking both opponents, Defence soon found herself in difficulty due to the failure of those ships behind her to properly follow up. This left her vulnerable to Mucius, Tourville and the ships following them, with which she began a furious fusillade. However, Defence was not the only ship of the van to break the French line; minutes later George Cranfield-Berkeley
in HMS Marlborough
executed Howe's manoeuvre perfectly, raking and then entangling his ship with Impétueux
.
In front of Marlborough the rest of the van had mixed success. HMS Bellerophon
and HMS Leviathan
were both still suffering the effects of their exertions earlier in the week and did not breach the enemy line. Instead they pulled along the near side of Éole
and America
respectively and brought them to close gunnery duels. Rear-Admiral Thomas Pasley of Bellerophon was an early casualty, losing a leg in the opening exchanges. HMS Royal Sovereign
, Graves's flagship, was less successful due to a miscalculation of distance that resulted in her pulling up too far from the French line and coming under heavy fire from her opponent Terrible
. In the time it took to engage Terrible more closely, Royal Sovereign suffered a severe pounding and Admiral Graves was badly wounded.
More disturbing to Lord Howe were the actions of HMS Russell
and HMS Caesar. Russell's captain John Willett Payne
was criticised at the time for failing to get to grips with the enemy more closely and allowing her opponent Téméraire
to badly damage her rigging in the early stages, although later commentators blamed damage received on 29 May for her poor start to the action. There were no such excuses, however, for Captain Anthony Molloy
of Caesar, who totally failed in his duty to engage the enemy. Molloy completely ignored Howe's signal and continued ahead as if the British battleline was following him rather than engaging the French fleet directly. Caesar did participate in a desultory exchange of fire with the leading French ship Trajan but her fire had little effect, while Trajan inflicted much damage to Caesar's rigging and was subsequently able to attack Bellerophon as well, roaming unchecked through the melee developing at the head of the line.
and George Bowyer and the rear under Lord Howe. While Howe in Queen Charlotte was engaging the French closely, his subordinates in the forward division were less active. Instead of moving in on their opposite numbers directly, the forward division sedately closed with the French in line ahead formation, engaging in a long distance duel which did not prevent their opponents from harassing the embattled Defence just ahead of them. Of all the ships in this squadron only HMS Invincible
, under Thomas Pakenham
, ranged close to the French lines. Invincible was badly damaged by her lone charge but managed to engage the larger Juste
. HMS Barfleur
under Bowyer did later enter the action, but Bowyer was not present, having lost a leg in the opening exchanges.
Howe and Queen Charlotte led the fleet by example, sailing directly at the French flagship Montagne
. Passing between Montagne and the next in line Vengeur du Peuple
, Queen Charlotte raked both and hauled up close to Montagne to engage in a close-range artillery battle. As she did so, Queen Charlotte also became briefly entangled with Jacobin
, and exchanged fire with her too, causing serious damage to both French ships.
To the right of Queen Charlotte, HMS Brunswick
had initially struggled to join the action. Labouring behind the flagship, her captain John Harvey
received a rebuke from Howe for the delay. Spurred by this signal, Harvey pushed his ship forward and almost outstripped Queen Charlotte, blocking her view of the eastern half of the French fleet for a time and taking severe damage from French fire as she did so. Harvey hoped to run aboard Jacobin and support his admiral directly, but was not fast enough to reach her and so attempted to cut between Achille and Vengeur du Peuple. This manoeuvre failed when Brunswick's anchors became entangled in Vengeur's rigging. Harvey's master
asked if Vengeur should be cut loose, to which Harvey replied "No; we have got her and we will keep her". The two ships swung so close to each other that Brunswick's crew could not open their gunports and had to fire through the closed lids, the ships battering each other from a distance of just a few feet.
Behind this combat, other ships of the centre division struck the French line, HMS Valiant
under Thomas Pringle
passing close to Patriote
which pulled away, her crew suffering from contagion
and unable to take their ship into battle. Valiant instead turned her attention on Achille, which had already been raked by Queen Charlotte and Brunswick, and badly damaged her before pressing on sail to join the embattled van division. HMS Orion
under John Thomas Duckworth
and HMS Queen
under Admiral Alan Gardner
both attacked the same ship, Queen suffering severely from the earlier actions in which her masts were badly damaged and her captain John Hutt
mortally wounded. Both ships bore down on the French Northumberland
, which was soon dismasted and left attempting to escape on only the stump of a mast. Queen was too slow to engage Northumberland as closely as Orion, and soon fell in with Jemmappes, both ships battering each other severely.
pierced it between Républicain
and Sans Pareil
, engaging both closely, while HMS Glory
came through the line behind Sans Pareil and threw herself into the melee as well. The rest of the British and French rearguard did not participate in this close combat; HMS Montagu
, with her captain James Montagu killed in the opening exchanges, fought a long range gunnery duel with Neptune
which damaged neither ship severely. Next in line, HMS Ramillies
ignored her opponent completely and sailed west, Captain Henry Harvey
seeking Brunswick, his brother's ship, in the confused action around Queen Charlotte.
Three other British ships failed to respond to the signal from Howe, including HMS Alfred
which engaged the French line at extreme range without noticeable effect, and Captain Charles Cotton
in HMS Majestic
who likewise did little until the action was decided, at which point he took the surrender of several already shattered French ships. Finally HMS Thunderer
under Albemarle Bertie
took no part in the initial action at all, standing well away from the British line and failing to engage the enemy despite the signal for close engagement hanging limply from her mainmast. The French rear ships were no less idle, with Entreprenant
and Pelletier
firing at any British ships in range but refusing to close or participate in the melees on either side. The French rear ship Scipion
did not attempt to join the action either, but could not avoid becoming embroiled in the group around Royal George and Républicain and suffered severe damage.
Within an hour of their opening volleys the British and French lines were hopelessly confused, with three separate engagements being fought within sight of one another. In the van, Caesar had finally attempted to join the fight, only to have a vital spar shot away by Trajan which caused her to slip down the two embattled fleets without contributing significantly to the battle. Bellerophon and Leviathan were in the thick of the action, the outnumbered Bellerophon taking serious damage to her rigging. This left her unable to manoeuvre and in danger from her opponents, of which Eole also suffered severely. Captain William Johnstone Hope
sought to extract his ship from her perilous position and called up support; the frigate HMS Latona under Captain Edward Thornbrough
arrived to provide assistance. Thornbrough brought his small ship between the ships of the French battleline and opened fire on Eole, helping to drive off three ships of the line and then towing Bellerophon to safety. Leviathan, under Lord Hugh Seymour
, had been more successful than Bellerophon, her gunnery dismasting America despite receiving fire from Eole and Trajan in passing. Leviathan only left America after a two-hour duel, sailing at 11:50 to join Queen Charlotte in the centre.
Russell had not broken the French line and her opponent Témeraire got the better of her, knocking away a topmast and escaping to windward with Trajan and Eole. Russell then fired on several passing French ships before joining Leviathan in attacking the centre of the French line. Russell's boats also took the surrender of America, her crew boarding the vessel to make her a prize (although later replaced by men from Royal Sovereign). Royal Sovereign lost Admiral Graves to a serious wound and lost her opponent as well, as Terrible fell out of the line to windward and joined a growing collection of French ships forming a new line on the far side of the action. Villaret was leading this line in his flagship Montagne, which had escaped from Queen Charlotte, and it was Montagne which Royal Sovereign engaged next, pursuing her close to the new French line accompanied by Valiant, and beginning a long-range action.
Behind Royal Sovereign was Marlborough, inextricably tangled with Impétueux. Badly damaged and on the verge of surrender, Impétueux was briefly reprieved when Mucius appeared through the smoke and collided with both ships. The three entangled ships continued exchanging fire for some time, all suffering heavy casualties with Marlborough and Impétueux losing all three of their masts. This combat continued for several hours. Captain Berkeley of Marlborough had to retire below with serious wounds, and command fell to Lieutenant John Monkton, who signalled for help from the frigates in reserve. Robert Stopford responded in HMS Aquilon, which had the assignment of repeating signals, and towed Marlborough out of the line as Mucius freed herself and made for the regrouped French fleet to the north. Impétueux was in too damaged a state to move at all, and was soon seized by sailors from HMS Russell.
Dismasted, Defence was unable to hold any of her various opponents to a protracted duel, and by 13:00 was threatened by the damaged Républicain moving from the east. Although Républicain later hauled off to join Villaret to the north, Gambier requested support for his ship from the fleet's frigates and was aided by HMS Phaeton under Captain William Bentinck
. As Impétueux passed she fired on Phaeton, to which Bentinck responded with several broadsides of his own. Invincible, the only ship of the forward division of the British centre to engage the enemy closely, became embroiled in the confusion surrounding Queen Charlotte. Invincible's guns drove Juste
onto the broadside of Queen Charlotte, where she was forced to surrender to Lieutenant Henry Blackwood
in a boat from Invincible. Among the other ships of the division there were only minor casualties, although HMS Impregnable
lost several yards
and was only brought back into line by the quick reactions of two junior officers, Lieutenant Robert Otway
and Midshipman Charles Dashwood.
The conflict between Queen Charlotte and Montagne was oddly one-sided, the French flagship failing to make use of her lower-deck guns and consequently suffering extensive damage and casualties. Queen Charlotte in her turn was damaged by fire from nearby ships and was therefore unable to follow when Montagne set her remaining sails and slipped to the north to create a new focal point for the survivors of the French fleet. Queen Charlotte also took fire during the engagement from HMS Gibraltar, under Thomas Mackenzie, which had failed to close with the enemy and instead fired at random into the smoke bank surrounding the flagship. Captain Sir Andrew Snape Douglas
was seriously wounded by this fire. Following Montagnes escape, Queen Charlotte engaged Jacobin and Républicain as they passed, and was successful in forcing the surrender of Juste. To the east of Queen Charlotte, Brunswick and Vengeur du Peuple continued their bitter combat, locked together and firing main broadsides from point blank range. Captain Harvey of Brunswick was mortally wounded early in this action by langrage fire from Vengeur, but refused to quit the deck, ordering more fire into his opponent. Brunswick also managed to drive Achille off from her far side when the French ship attempted to intervene. Achille, already damaged, was totally dismasted in the exchange and briefly surrendered, although her crew rescinded this when it became clear Brunswick was in no position to take possession. With her colours rehoisted, Achille then made what sail she could in an attempt to join Villaret to the north. It was not until 12:45 that the shattered Vengeur and Brunswick pulled apart, both largely dismasted and very battered. Brunswick was only able to return to the British side of the line after being supported by Ramillies, while Vengeur was unable to move at all. Ramillies took Vengeur's surrender after a brief cannonade but was unable to board her and instead pursued the fleeing Achille, which soon surrendered as well.
To the east, Orion and Queen forced the surrender of both Northumberland and Jemmappes, although Queen was unable to secure Jemmappes and she had to be abandoned later. Queen especially was badly damaged and unable to make the British lines again, wallowing between the newly reformed French fleet and the British battleline along with several other shattered ships.(Manderson served as a lieutenant aboard HMS Queen) Royal George and Glory had between them disabled Scipion and Sans Pareil in a bitter exchange, but were also too badly damaged themselves to take possession. All four ships were among those left drifting in the gap between the fleets.
, Sir Roger Curtis
. Curtis was subsequently blamed by some in the Navy for not capturing more of the dismasted French ships, and was also accused of actively dissuading Howe from attempting further pursuit.
In fact, the British fleet was unable to pursue Villaret, having only 11 ships still capable of battle to the French 12, and having numerous dismasted ships and prizes to protect. Retiring and regrouping, the British crews set about making hasty repairs and securing their prizes; seven in total, including the badly damaged Vengeur du Peuple. Vengeur had been holed by cannon firing from Brunswick directly through the ship's bottom, and after her surrender no British ship had managed to get men aboard. This left Vengeurs few remaining unwounded crew to attempt to salvage what they could—a task made harder when some of her sailors broke into the spirit room and became drunk. Ultimately the ship's pumps became unmanageable, and Vengeur began to sink. Only the timely arrival of boats from the undamaged Alfred and HMS Culloden
, as well as the services of the cutter HMS Rattler, saved any of the Vengeur's crew from drowning, these ships taking off nearly 500 sailors between them. Lieutenant John Winne of Rattler was especially commended for this hazardous work. By 18:15, Vengeur was clearly beyond salvage and only the very worst of the wounded, the dead and the drunk remained aboard. Several sailors are said to have waved the tricolour from the bow of the ship and cried "Vive la Nation, vive la République!"
Having escaped to the east, Villaret made what sail his battered fleet could muster to return to France, and dispatched his frigates in search of the convoy. Villaret was also hoping for reinforcements; eight ships of the line, commanded by Admiral Pierre-François Cornic, were patrolling near the Ushant
headland. Behind him to the west, the British took the whole night to secure their ships and prizes, not setting out to return to Britain until 05:00 on 2 June.
Casualties in the battle are notoriously hard to calculate exactly. With only one exception aboard Scipion, records made by the French captains of their losses at the time are incomplete. The only immediately available casualty counts are the sketchy reports of Saint-André and the records made by British officers aboard the captured ships, neither of which can be treated as completely reliable. Most sources accept that French casualties in the campaign numbered approximately 7,000, including around 3,000 captured, but these figures are vague and frequently do not agree with each other on details. British casualties are easier to confirm but here too there are some discrepancies; overall British casualties are generally given as around 1,200.
, though unaware of Howe's specific circumstances, knew a battle had taken place through the arrival of HMS Audacious
in Portsmouth, and was preparing a second expedition under George Montagu. Montagu had returned to England after his unsuccessful May cruise, and was refitting in Portsmouth when ordered to sea again. His force of ten ships was intended to both cover Howe's withdrawal from Biscay, and find and attack the French grain convoy. Montagu returned to sea on 3 June, and by 8 June was off Ushant searching for signs of either the French or Howe; unknown to him, neither had yet entered European waters. At 15:30 on 8 June Montagu spotted sails, and soon identified them as the enemy. He had located Cornic's squadron, which was also patrolling for the convoy and the returning fleets. Montagu gave chase and drove Cornic into Bertheaume Bay, where he blockaded the French squadron overnight, hoping to bring them to action the following day. However, on 9 June, Montagu sighted 19 French ships appearing from the west—the remnants of Villaret's fleet. Hastily turning his ships, Montagu sailed south to avoid becoming trapped between two forces which might easily overwhelm him. Villaret and Cornic gave chase for a day before turning east towards the safety of the French ports.
Howe benefited from Montagu's withdrawal, as his own battered fleet passed close to the scene of this stand-off on 10 June, pushing north into the English Channel. With Villaret and Cornic fortuitously pursuing Montagu to the south, Howe was free to pass Ushant without difficulty and arrived off Plymouth
on 12 June, joined soon afterwards by Montagu. Villaret had anchored with Cornic in Bertheaume Bay the day before, but Saint-André refused to allow him to enter Brest until the republican attitudes of the town's population had been assessed. On 12 June, the convoy from America finally arrived off France, having lost just one ship in passage during a storm.
was treated with a Royal visit by King George III
and the entire royal household.
. Kerguelen was disgusted by Villaret's failure to renew the battle after he had reformed his squadron, and felt that the French fleet could have been successful tactically as well as strategically if only Villaret had made greater efforts to engage the remains of Howe's fleet. The French Navy had suffered its worst losses in a single day since the Battle of La Hogue in 1692.
Ultimately the revolutionary excesses of the period would prove disastrous for the French Navy. Poor leadership, conflicting and arbitrary orders and the decimation of the experienced seamen in the ranks promoted a negative attitude in the French officer corps. The French battlefleet did not contest British dominance in Northern European waters again, and their raiding operations repeatedly ended in failure at the hands of more confident British squadrons and the unforgiving Atlantic weather. By 1805, when the last great French fleet to take to the sea was crushed at the Battle of Trafalgar
, poor training and low investment in the Navy had reduced its efficiency to levels unthinkable 20 years earlier.
In Britain, numerous honours were bestowed on the fleet and its commanders. Admiral Howe, already an earl, refused any further elevation, and King George III was dissuaded from making him a Knight of the Garter by one of Howe's political opponents. Vice-Admiral Graves was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland
as Baron Graves
, while Vice-Admiral Hood was made Viscount Bridport
. Rear-Admirals Bowyer, Gardner, Pasley and Curtis (the last-named was promoted from Captain on 4 July 1794) were all made baronets, and Bowyer and Pasley also received pensions of £1,000 a year to compensate them for their severe wounds. All first lieutenants were promoted to commander
and numerous other officers were promoted in consequence of their actions. The thanks of parliament were unanimously passed to all who fought at the action and various other gifts and awards were distributed among the fleet. A memorial to Captains John Hutt and John Harvey, both of whom had died of their wounds on 30 June, was raised in Westminster Abbey
.
There was, however, a bitter consequence of the awards, rooted in Howe's official dispatch to the Admiralty concerning the battle, which according to some accounts was actually written by Curtis. Howe had appended a list to his report containing the names of officers whom he believed merited special reward for their part in the battle. The list included Vice-Admirals Graves and Hood, Rear-Admirals Bowyer, Gardner and Pasley, Captains Seymour, Pakenham, Cranfield-Berkeley, Gambier, John Harvey, Payne, Henry Harvey, Pringle, Duckworth, Elphinstone, Nichols and Hope. Also mentioned were Lieutenants Monkton and Donnelly. The list had omitted a number of officers who had served in the battle, and the justice of their omission was a highly controversial issue in the Navy. Rear-Admiral Caldwell was the sole British flag officer present not to receive a hereditary honour, although he was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 4 July (as were Bowyer and Gardner). After studying the ship's logs and reports of the battle, the Admiralty minted a medal to be awarded to the living captains on the list only (although Captain William Parker of HMS Audacious was awarded one as well). The captains excluded from the list were furious, and the furore from this selective commendation lasted years: in 1795 Vice-Admiral Caldwell quit the service in anger as a result, while Cuthbert Collingwood, flag captain of Barfleur, refused all awards for future service until the Glorious First of June medal was presented to him as well. He eventually received it after the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. Over five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.
Bitterest of all was the whispering campaign directed at Anthony Molloy, captain of HMS Caesar. Molloy was accused of cowardice by fellow officers for his failure to follow Howe's orders on both 29 May and 1 June. Requesting an official court-martial to clear his name, Molloy's legal bid failed, and although his personal courage was not called into question, his professional ability was. Molloy was dismissed from his ship, a punishment which effectively fired him from the Navy.
Of the captured ships, several were purchased and enjoyed long careers in the Royal Navy, in particular the two 80-gun ships HMS Sans Pareil
which was decommissioned in 1802 but not broken up until 1842, and HMS Juste
, which was a popular command until her decommissioning in 1802 at the Peace of Amiens. Of the four 74-gun prizes, Achille and Northumberland (both 74s built in the late 1770s) were broken up as unserviceable soon after arrival in Britain, while Impétueux was destroyed in a dockyard fire on 24 August 1794 while undergoing repairs. America, the final prize, was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS America but renamed HMS Impetueux
in July 1795 and remained in service until 1813. The combined prize money
for these ships was £201,096 ((the equivalent of £ as of ), divided among the ships under Lord Howe's command.
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
. The British Channel Fleet under Admiral Lord Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
attempted to prevent the passage of a vital French grain
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which was protected by the French Atlantic Fleet
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
, commanded by Vice-Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was a French admiral.-Early career:Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was born in Auch, in the heart of Gascony. The Villaret de Joyeuse family figured among the minor nobility from Languedoc...
. The two forces clashed in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, some 400 nautical miles (741 km) west of the French island of Ushant
Ushant
Ushant is an island at the south-western end of the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune in the Finistère department...
on 1 June 1794.
The action was the culmination of a campaign that had criss-crossed the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
over the previous month in which both sides had captured numerous merchant ships and minor warships and had engaged in two partial, but inconclusive, fleet actions. During the battle, Howe defied naval convention by ordering his fleet to turn towards the French and for each of his vessels to rake
Raking fire
In naval warfare, raking fire is fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship. Although each shot is directed against a smaller target profile than by shooting broadside and thus more likely to miss the target ship to one side or the other, an individual cannon shot that hits will pass...
and engage their immediate opponent. This unexpected order was not understood by all of his captains, and as a result his attack was more piecemeal than he intended. Nevertheless, his ships inflicted a severe tactical defeat on the French fleet. In the aftermath of the battle both fleets were left shattered and in no condition for further combat, Howe and Villaret returning to their home ports. Despite losing seven of his ships of the line, Villaret had bought enough time for the French grain convoy to reach safety unimpeded by Howe's fleet, securing a strategic success. However, he was also forced to withdraw his battle-fleet to port, leaving the British free to conduct a campaign of blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
for the remainder of the war. In the immediate aftermath both sides claimed victory and the outcome of the battle was seized upon by the press of both nations as a demonstration of the prowess and bravery of their respective navies.
The Glorious First of June demonstrated a number of the major problems inherent in the French and British navies at the start of the Revolutionary Wars — both admirals were faced with disobedience from their captains and ill-discipline and poor training among their crews. During the height of the combat they both failed to control their fleets effectively, their ships suffering further from a shortage of crewmen and reliable officers. In Britain the conduct of a number of officers was subsequently called into question and one even faced a court martial for his conduct, leaving a lasting legacy of bitterness in the Royal Navy.
Background
Since early 1792 France had been at war with four of its neighbours on two fronts, battling Austria and PrussiaKingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
in the Austrian Netherlands, and the Austrians and Piedmontese
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. On 2 January 1793, almost one year into the French Revolutionary War, republican-held forts at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
fired on the British brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
HMS Childers.[Note B] A few weeks later, following the execution of the imprisoned King Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
and his wife Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, diplomatic ties between Britain and France were broken. On 1 February France declared war on both Britain and the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
.
Protected from immediate invasion by the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, Britain prepared for an extensive naval campaign and dispatched troops to the Netherlands for service against the French. Throughout the remainder of 1793, the British and French navies undertook minor operations in Northern waters, the Mediterranean and the West
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
, where both nations maintained colonies
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
. The closest the Channel Fleet had come to an engagement was when it had narrowly missed intercepting the French convoy from the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, escorted by 15 ships of the line on 2 August. The only major clash was the Siege of Toulon
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...
, a confused and bloody affair in which the British force holding the town—alongside Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, Sardinian
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, Austrian and French Royalist troops—had to be evacuated by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to prevent its imminent defeat at the hands of the French Republican army. The aftermath of this siege was punctuated by recriminations and accusations of cowardice and betrayal among the allies, eventually resulting in Spain switching allegiance with the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso
Second Treaty of San Ildefonso
The Second Treaty of San Ildefonso was signed on August 19, 1796 between the Spanish Empire and the First French Republic. Based on the terms of the agreement, France and Spain would become allies and combine their forces against the British Empire.-See also:...
two years later. Nevertheless, the siege produced one major success: Sir Sidney Smith, with parties of sailors from the retreating British fleet, accomplished the destruction of substantial French naval stores and shipping in Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
. More might have been achieved had the Spanish raiding parties that accompanied Smith not been issued with secret orders to stall the destruction of the French fleet.
The situation in Europe remained volatile into 1794. Off Northern France, the French Atlantic Fleet had mutinied due to errors in provisions and pay. In consequence, the French Navy officer corps suffered greatly from the effects of The Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
, with many experienced sailors being executed, imprisoned or dismissed from the service for perceived disloyalty. The shortage of provisions was more than a navy problem though; France itself was starving because the social upheavals of the previous year had combined with a harsh winter to ruin the harvest. By this time at war with all her neighbours, France had nowhere to turn for overland imports of fresh provisions. Eventually a solution to the food crisis was agreed by the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
: food produced in France's overseas colonies would be concentrated on board a fleet of merchant ships gathered in Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
, and augmented with food and goods purchased from the United States. During April and May 1794, the merchantmen would convoy the supplies across the Atlantic to Brest, protected by elements of the French Atlantic Fleet.
Fleets
The navies of Britain and France in 1794 were at very different stages of development. Although the British fleet was numerically superior, the French ships were larger, stronger and carried a heavier weight of shot. The largest French ships were three-decker first rates, carrying 110 or even 120 guns, compared with 100 guns on the largest British vessels.Royal Navy
Nootka Crisis
The Nootka Crisis was an international incident and political dispute between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain, triggered by a series of events that took place during the summer of 1789 at Nootka Sound...
of 1790, the Royal Navy had been at sea in a state of readiness for over three years. Due to extensive preparations under First Lord of the Admiralty Charles Middleton
Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham
Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham PC was a British naval officer and politician.He was born at Leith, Midlothian to Robert Middleton, a customs collector of Bo'ness, Linlithgowshire, and Helen, daughter of Charles Dundas.-Naval career:Middleton entered the Royal Navy in 1741 as captain's...
, the Navy's dockyards were all fully fitted and prepared for conflict, lessons having been learnt from the disasters of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
ten years earlier. Then, an ill-prepared Royal Navy had taken too long to reach full effectiveness. As a result the Navy had been unable to support the North American campaign, which ended in defeat at the Battle of Yorktown
Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
due to lack of supplies. With British dockyards now readily turning out cannon, shot, sails, provisions and other essential equipment, the only remaining problem was that of manning the several hundred ships on the Navy list.
Gathering sufficient manpower proved problematic, and was never satisfactorily accomplished throughout the entire war. The shortage of seamen was such that the press gangs were forced to take thousands of men with no experience of the sea, and whose training and preparation for naval life would take quite some time. The lack of Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
was even more urgent, and soldiers from the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
were drafted into the fleet for service at sea. Men of the Queen's Royal Regiment and the 29th Regiment of Foot
29th Regiment of Foot
The 29th Regiment of Foot was, from 1694 to 1881, an infantry regiment of the British Army. It now forms part of the Mercian Regiment.-Formation:...
served aboard Royal Navy ships during the campaign; their descendant regiments still maintain the battle honour
Battle honour
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....
"1 June 1794".
Despite these difficulties, the Channel Fleet was possessed of one of the best naval commanders of the age; its commander-in-chief, Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
, had learned his trade under Sir Edward Hawke and fought at the Battle of Quiberon Bay
Battle of 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...
in 1759. In the spring of 1794, with the French convoy's arrival in European waters imminent, Howe had dispersed his fleet in three groups. George Montagu, in HMS Hector
HMS Hector
Eleven ships of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hector, named after the Trojan hero Hector in the Iliad.* The first was a 22-gun ship sold in 1656.* The second was a 30-gun ship sold in 1657....
, was sent with six ships of the line and two frigates to guard British convoys to the East Indies, West Indies and Newfoundland as far as Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre
right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
. Peter Rainier
Peter Rainier, junior
Peter Rainier, Jr. was a British naval officer. Mount Rainier in Washington, USA, was named after him.-Biography:Rainier was born in England, the grandson of Daniel Regnier, a Huguenot refugee, and the son of Peter Rainier of Sandwich. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1756 at the age of 15. He...
, in HMS Suffolk
HMS Suffolk (1765)
HMS Suffolk was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 22 February 1765 at Rotherhithe. She was designed by William Bateley, based on the principles of his earlier , and was the only ship built to her draught....
and commanding six other ships, was to escort the convoys for the rest of their passage. The third force consisted of 26 ships of the line, with several supporting vessels, under Howe's direct command. They were to patrol the Bay of Biscay for the arriving French.
French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
was in a state of confusion. Although the quality of the fleet's ships was high, the fleet hierarchy was riven by the same crises that had torn through France since the Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
five years earlier. Consequently the high standard of ships and ordnance was not matched by that of the available crews, which were largely untrained and inexperienced. With The Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
resulting in the death or dismissal of many senior French sailors and officers, political appointees and conscripts — many of whom had never been to sea at all, let alone in a fighting vessel — filled the Atlantic fleet.
The manpower problem was compounded by the supply crisis which was affecting the entire nation, with the fleet going unpaid and largely unfed for months at times. In August 1793, these problems came to a head in the fleet off Brest, when a lack of provisions resulted in a mutiny among the regular sailors. The crews overruled their officers and brought their ships into harbour in search of food, leaving the French coast undefended. The National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
responded instantly by executing a swathe of senior officers and ship's non-commissioned officers. Hundreds more officers and sailors were imprisoned, banished or dismissed from naval service. The effect of this purge was devastating, seriously degrading the fighting ability of the fleet by removing at a stroke many of its most capable personnel. In their places were promoted junior officers, merchant captains and even civilians who expressed sufficient revolutionary zeal, although few of them knew how to fight or control a battle fleet at sea.
The newly appointed commander of this troubled fleet was Villaret de Joyeuse; although formerly in a junior position, he was known to possess a high degree of tactical ability, he had trained under Suffren
Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez
Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...
in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
during the American war. However, Villaret's attempts to mould his new officer corps into an effective fighting unit were hampered by another new appointee, a deputy of the National Convention named Jean-Bon Saint-André. Saint-André's job was to report directly to the National Convention on the revolutionary ardour of both the fleet and its admiral. He frequently intervened in strategic planning and tactical operations. Shortly after his arrival, Saint-André proposed issuing a decree ordering that any officer deemed to have shown insufficient zeal in defending his ship in action should be put to death on his return to France, although this highly controversial legislation does not appear to have ever been acted upon. Although his interference was a source of frustration for Villaret, Saint-André's dispatches to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
were published regularly in Le Moniteur
Le Moniteur Universel
Le Moniteur Universel was a French newspaper founded in Paris on November 24, 1789 under the title Gazette Nationale ou Le Moniteur Universal by Charles-Joseph Panckoucke, and which ceased publication on June 30, 1901...
, and did much to popularise the Navy in France.
The French Atlantic fleet was even more dispersed than the British in the spring of 1794: Rear-Admiral Pierre Vanstabel had been dispatched, with five ships including two of the line, to meet the much-needed French grain convoy off the American eastern seaboard. Rear-Admiral Joseph-Marie Nielly
Joseph-Marie Nielly
Joseph-Marie Nielly was a French naval officer and admiral.Nielly began his career aged seven aboard the Formidable, and was wounded at the Battle of Quiberon Bay, on 20 November 1759. He sailed in the Caribbean until 1769, when he joined the merchant navy.In 1774, aged 23, he received his first...
had sailed from Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
with five ships of the line and assorted cruising warships to rendezvous with the convoy in the mid-Atlantic. This left Villaret with 25 ships of the line at Brest, to meet the threat posed by the British fleet under Lord Howe.
Convoy
By early spring of 1794, the situation in France was dire. With famine looming after the failure of the harvest and the blockade of French ports and trade, the French government was forced to look overseas for sustenance. Turning to France's colonies in the Americas, and the agricultural might of the United States, the National Convention gave orders for the formation of a large convoy of sailing vessels to gather at Hampton RoadsHampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
, where Admiral Vanstabel would wait for them. According to contemporary historian William James
William James (naval historian)
William M. James was a British lawyer turned naval historian who wrote important naval histories of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815.-Career:...
this conglomeration of ships was said to be over 350 strong, although he disputes this figure, citing the number as 117 (in addition to the French warships).
The convoy had also been augmented by the United States government, in both cargo and shipping, as repayment for French financial, moral and military support during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. In supporting the French Revolution in this way, the American government, urged especially by Ambassador Gouverneur Morris
Gouverneur Morris
Gouverneur Morris , was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a native of New York City who represented Pennsylvania in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation. Morris was also an author of large sections of the...
, was fulfilling its ten year old debt to France. Friendly relations between the United States and France did not long survive the Jay Treaty
Jay Treaty
Jay's Treaty, , also known as Jay's Treaty, The British Treaty, and the Treaty of London of 1794, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain that is credited with averting war,, resolving issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the American Revolution,, and...
which came into effect in 1796; by 1798 the two nations would be engaged in the Quasi War.
May 1794
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
on 2 April, and Howe sailed from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
on 2 May, taking his entire fleet to both escort British convoys to the Western Approaches
Western Approaches
The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...
and intercept the French. Checking that Villaret was still in Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, Howe spent two weeks searching the Bay of Biscay for the grain convoy, returning to Brest on 18 May to discover that Villaret had sailed the previous day.[Note C] Returning to sea in search of his opponent, Howe pursued Villaret deep into the Atlantic. Also at sea during this period were the squadrons of Nielly (French) and Montagu (British), both of whom had met with some success; Nielly capturing a number of British merchant ships and Montagu taking several back. Nielly was the first to encounter the grain convoy, deep in the Atlantic in the second week of May. He took it under escort as it moved closer to Europe, while Montagu was searching fruitlessly to the south.
Despite Howe's pursuit, the main French sortie found initial success, running into a Dutch convoy and taking 20 ships from it on Villaret's first day at sea. For the next week Howe continued to follow the French, seizing and burning a trail of French-held Dutch ships and enemy corvettes. On 25 May Howe spotted a straggler from Villaret's fleet and gave chase; Audacieux
French ship Audacieux (1784)
The Audacieux was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Between 1791 and 1793, she was decommissioned in Lorient. She joined active service again in 1793, and the next year, she salvaged the Révolutionnaire, dismasted after the Glorious First of June.She was eventually broken...
led Howe straight to his opponent's location. Having finally found Villaret, on 28 May Howe attacked, using a flying squadron of his fastest ships to cut off its rearmost vessel Révolutionnaire
French ship Bretagne (1766)
The Bretagne was a large 110-gun three-decker French ship of the line, built at Brest, which became famous as the flagship of the Brest Fleet during the American War of Independence....
. This first rate was at various times engaged with six British ships and took heavy damage, possibly striking her colours late in the action. As darkness fell the British and French fleets separated, leaving Révolutionnaire and her final enemy, HMS Audacious
HMS Audacious (1785)
HMS Audacious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 July 1785 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship to bear the name....
, still locked in combat behind them. These two ships parted company during the night and eventually returned to their respective home ports. By this stage Villaret knew through his patrolling frigates that the grain convoy was close, and deliberately took his fleet to the west, hoping to decoy Howe away from the vital convoy.
Taking the bait, the following day Howe attacked again, but his attempt to split the French fleet in half was unsuccessful when his lead ship, HMS Caesar
HMS Caesar (1793)
HMS Caesar, also Cæsar, was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1793 at Plymouth. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only ship built to her draught.-Battle of Algeciras Bay:...
, failed to follow orders. Much damage was done to both fleets but the action was inconclusive, and the two forces again separated without having settled the issue. Howe had however gained an important advantage during the engagement by seizing the weather gage
Weather gage
The weather gage is a nautical term used to describe the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel, relative to another. The term is from the Age of Sail, and is now antiquated. A ship is said to possess the weather gage if it is in any position, at sea, upwind of the other vessel...
, enabling him to further attack Villaret at a time of his choosing. Three French ships were sent back to port with damage, but these losses were offset by reinforcements gained the following day with the arrival of Nielly's detached squadron. Battle was postponed during the next two days because of thick fog, but when the haze lifted on 1 June 1794, the battle lines were only 6 miles (10 km) apart and Howe was prepared to force a decisive action.
First of June
Weather gage
The weather gage is a nautical term used to describe the advantageous position of a fighting sailing vessel, relative to another. The term is from the Age of Sail, and is now antiquated. A ship is said to possess the weather gage if it is in any position, at sea, upwind of the other vessel...
to close with Villaret, and by 08:12 the British fleet was just four miles (6 km) from the enemy. By this time, Howe's formation was strung out in an organised line parallel to the French, with frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s acting as repeaters for the admiral's commands. The French were likewise in line ahead and the two lines began exchanging long-range gunfire at 09:24, whereupon Howe unleashed his innovative battleplan.
It was normal in fleet actions of the 18th century for the two lines of battle to pass one another sedately, exchanging fire at long ranges and then wearing
Jibe
A jibe or gybe is a sailing maneuver where a sailing vessel turns its stern through the wind, such that the wind direction changes from one side of the boat to the other...
away, often without either side losing a ship or taking an enemy. In contrast, Howe was counting on the professionalism of his captains and crews combined with the advantage of the weather gage to attack the French directly, driving through their line. However, this time he did not plan to manoeuvre in the way he had during the two previous encounters; each ship following in the wake of that in front to create a new line arrowing through his opponent's force (as Rodney had done at the Battle of the Saintes
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...
12 years earlier). Instead, Howe ordered each of his ships to turn individually towards the French line, intending to breach it at every point and rake the French ships at both bow and stern. The British captains would then pull up on the leeward side of their opposite numbers, cutting them off from their retreat downwind, and engage them directly, hopefully forcing each to surrender and consequently destroying the French Atlantic Fleet.
British break the line
Within minutes of issuing the signal and turning his flagship HMS Queen CharlotteHMS Queen Charlotte (1790)
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1790 at Chatham. She was built to the draught of designed by Sir Edward Hunt, though with a modified armament....
, Howe's plan began to falter. Many of the British captains had either misunderstood or ignored the signal and were hanging back in the original line. Other ships were still struggling with damage from Howe's earlier engagements and could not get into action fast enough. The result was a ragged formation tipped by Queen Charlotte that headed unevenly for Villaret's fleet. The French responded by firing on the British ships as they approached, but the lack of training and coordination in the French fleet was obvious; many ships which did obey Howe's order and attacked the French directly arrived in action without significant damage.
Van squadron
Vanguard (military tactics)
The vanguard is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.- Medieval origins :...
under Admiral Graves
Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves
|-|-...
: HMS Defence
HMS Defence (1763)
HMS Defence was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 March 1763 at Plymouth Dockyard. She was one of the most famous ships of the period, taking part in several of the most important naval battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars...
under Captain James Gambier, a notoriously dour officer nicknamed "Dismal Jimmy" by his contemporaries. Defence, the seventh ship of the British line, successfully cut the French line between its sixth and seventh ships; Mucius
French ship Orion (1787)
The Orion was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in fighting on the coast of Italy. In 1793, she was renamed Mucius Scaevola, soon shortened to Mucius....
and Tourville
French ship Tourville (1788)
The Tourville was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.In August 1793, she was damaged by a tempest, which also killed her captain, and had to return to Brest...
. Raking both opponents, Defence soon found herself in difficulty due to the failure of those ships behind her to properly follow up. This left her vulnerable to Mucius, Tourville and the ships following them, with which she began a furious fusillade. However, Defence was not the only ship of the van to break the French line; minutes later George Cranfield-Berkeley
George Cranfield-Berkeley
Admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley GCB , often known as George Berkeley, was a highly experienced, popular, yet controversial naval officer and politician in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain...
in HMS Marlborough
HMS Marlborough (1767)
HMS Marlborough was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 August 1767 at Deptford. She was one of the Ramillies class built to update the Navy and replace ships lost following the Seven Years' War. She was first commissioned in 1771 under Captain Richard Bickerton...
executed Howe's manoeuvre perfectly, raking and then entangling his ship with Impétueux
French ship Impétueux (1787)
The Impétueux was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Glorious First of June in 1794. During the battle, HMS Marlborough. Marlborough became tangled with Impétueux...
.
In front of Marlborough the rest of the van had mixed success. HMS Bellerophon
HMS Bellerophon (1786)
The first HMS Bellerophon of the Royal Navy was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched on 6 October 1786 at Frindsbury on the River Medway, near Chatham. She was built at the shipyard of Edward Greaves to the specifications of the Arrogant, designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1758, the lead ship...
and HMS Leviathan
HMS Leviathan (1790)
HMS Leviathan was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 October 1790. At the Battle of Trafalgar under Henry William Bayntun, she was near the front of the windward column led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard his flagship, , and captured the Spanish ship San Augustin.In...
were both still suffering the effects of their exertions earlier in the week and did not breach the enemy line. Instead they pulled along the near side of Éole
French ship Éole (1789)
The Éole was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Between 1791 and 1793, she was based in Saint-Domingue. She took part in the Glorious First of June, where she and Trajan dismasted HMS Bellerophon....
and America
French ship America (1788)
America was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1794 at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. She then served with the British under the name HMS Impetueux until she was broken up in 1813...
respectively and brought them to close gunnery duels. Rear-Admiral Thomas Pasley of Bellerophon was an early casualty, losing a leg in the opening exchanges. HMS Royal Sovereign
HMS Royal Sovereign (1786)
HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. Designed by Sir Edward Hunt, she was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11...
, Graves's flagship, was less successful due to a miscalculation of distance that resulted in her pulling up too far from the French line and coming under heavy fire from her opponent Terrible
French ship Terrible (1779)
The Terrible was a 110-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, where she was dismasted by HMS Royal Sovereign...
. In the time it took to engage Terrible more closely, Royal Sovereign suffered a severe pounding and Admiral Graves was badly wounded.
More disturbing to Lord Howe were the actions of HMS Russell
HMS Russell (1764)
HMS Russell was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 November 1764 at Deptford.In 1782, she was commanded by Captain James Saumarez at the Battle of the Saintes. In 1794 she was part of Admiral Howe's fleet at the Glorious First of June, and in the following year...
and HMS Caesar. Russell's captain John Willett Payne
John Willett Payne
Rear-Admiral John Willett Payne was a senior, veteran officer of the British Navy who also served as a close friend, advisor and courtier to Prince George before and during his first regency...
was criticised at the time for failing to get to grips with the enemy more closely and allowing her opponent Téméraire
French ship Téméraire (1782)
The Téméraire was the lead ship of the Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, battling HMS Russell....
to badly damage her rigging in the early stages, although later commentators blamed damage received on 29 May for her poor start to the action. There were no such excuses, however, for Captain Anthony Molloy
Anthony James Pye Molloy
Anthony James Pye Molloy was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars....
of Caesar, who totally failed in his duty to engage the enemy. Molloy completely ignored Howe's signal and continued ahead as if the British battleline was following him rather than engaging the French fleet directly. Caesar did participate in a desultory exchange of fire with the leading French ship Trajan but her fire had little effect, while Trajan inflicted much damage to Caesar's rigging and was subsequently able to attack Bellerophon as well, roaming unchecked through the melee developing at the head of the line.
Centre
The centre of the two fleets was divided by two separate squadrons of the British line: the forward division under admirals Benjamin CaldwellBenjamin Caldwell
Admiral Sir Benjamin Caldwell, GCB was a senior and highly experienced British Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth century whose many victories and achievements were overshadowed by his acrimonious departure from the Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars after highly publicised disputes with...
and George Bowyer and the rear under Lord Howe. While Howe in Queen Charlotte was engaging the French closely, his subordinates in the forward division were less active. Instead of moving in on their opposite numbers directly, the forward division sedately closed with the French in line ahead formation, engaging in a long distance duel which did not prevent their opponents from harassing the embattled Defence just ahead of them. Of all the ships in this squadron only HMS Invincible
HMS Invincible (1765)
HMS Invincible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 March 1765 at Deptford. Invincible was built during a period of peace to replace ships worn out in the recently concluded Seven Years' War...
, under Thomas Pakenham
Thomas Pakenham (Royal Navy officer)
Sir Thomas Pakenham GCB , styled The Honourable from birth to 1820, was a British naval officer and politician.Pakenham, third son of Thomas Pakenham, 1st Baron Longford , was born in 1757. He entered the Royal Navy in 1771 on board the , with Captain John MacBride, with whom he moved to the in 1773...
, ranged close to the French lines. Invincible was badly damaged by her lone charge but managed to engage the larger Juste
French ship Deux Frères
The Deux Frères was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was offered to King Louis XVI by his two brothers.On 29 September 1792, she was renamed Juste. She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, where she was captured....
. HMS Barfleur
HMS Barfleur (1768)
HMS Barfleur was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Thomas Slade on the lines of the 100-gun ship Royal William, and launched at Chatham Dockyard on 30 July 1768, at a cost of £49,222. In about 1780, she had another eight guns added to her quarterdeck, making...
under Bowyer did later enter the action, but Bowyer was not present, having lost a leg in the opening exchanges.
Howe and Queen Charlotte led the fleet by example, sailing directly at the French flagship Montagne
French ship Océan (1790)
Océan was a 118-gun first-rate three-decker ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She was ordered as États de Bourgogne and was launched at Brest in 1790...
. Passing between Montagne and the next in line Vengeur du Peuple
French ship Vengeur du Peuple
The Vengeur du Peuple was a 74 gun ship of the line of the French Navy launched in 1762.Originally offered by the city of Marseille, and named the Marseillois , she saw action during the American War of Independence...
, Queen Charlotte raked both and hauled up close to Montagne to engage in a close-range artillery battle. As she did so, Queen Charlotte also became briefly entangled with Jacobin
French ship Auguste (1778)
The Auguste was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.In 1781 and 1782, she took part in the Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War, under Admiral de Grasse. She fought at the Battle of the Chesapeake under captain Bougainville....
, and exchanged fire with her too, causing serious damage to both French ships.
To the right of Queen Charlotte, HMS Brunswick
HMS Brunswick (1790)
HMS Brunswick was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 April 1790 at Deptford.On 29 October 1792, three condemned mutineers of the Mutiny on the Bounty were hanged from her yardarms....
had initially struggled to join the action. Labouring behind the flagship, her captain John Harvey
John Harvey (Royal Navy officer)
Captain John Harvey was an officer of the British Royal Navy whose death in the aftermath of the battle of the Glorious First of June where he had commanded the HMS Brunswick terminated a long and highly successful career and made him a celebrity in Britain, a memorial to his memory being raised...
received a rebuke from Howe for the delay. Spurred by this signal, Harvey pushed his ship forward and almost outstripped Queen Charlotte, blocking her view of the eastern half of the French fleet for a time and taking severe damage from French fire as she did so. Harvey hoped to run aboard Jacobin and support his admiral directly, but was not fast enough to reach her and so attempted to cut between Achille and Vengeur du Peuple. This manoeuvre failed when Brunswick's anchors became entangled in Vengeur's rigging. Harvey's master
Master mariner
A Master Mariner or MM is the professional qualification required for someone to serve as the person in charge or person in command of a commercial vessel. In England, the term Master Mariner has been in use at least since the 13th century, reflecting the fact that in guild or livery company terms,...
asked if Vengeur should be cut loose, to which Harvey replied "No; we have got her and we will keep her". The two ships swung so close to each other that Brunswick's crew could not open their gunports and had to fire through the closed lids, the ships battering each other from a distance of just a few feet.
Behind this combat, other ships of the centre division struck the French line, HMS Valiant
HMS Valiant (1759)
HMS Valiant was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, modelled on the captured French ship Invincible and launched on 10 August 1759 at Chatham Dockyard. Her construction, launch and fitting-out are the theme of the 'Wooden Walls' visitor experience at Chatham Historic Dockyard....
under Thomas Pringle
Thomas Pringle (Royal Navy officer)
Vice-Admiral Thomas Pringle was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Family and early life:...
passing close to Patriote
French ship Patriote (1785)
The Patriote was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.She was one of the French ships which had their hull doubled with copper....
which pulled away, her crew suffering from contagion
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
and unable to take their ship into battle. Valiant instead turned her attention on Achille, which had already been raked by Queen Charlotte and Brunswick, and badly damaged her before pressing on sail to join the embattled van division. HMS Orion
HMS Orion (1787)
HMS Orion was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Deptford on 1 June 1787 to the design of the , by William Bately...
under John Thomas Duckworth
John Thomas Duckworth
Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British naval officer, serving during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, as the Governor of Newfoundland during the War of 1812, and a member of the British House of Commons during his...
and HMS Queen
HMS Queen (1769)
HMS Queen was a three-deck 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 September 1769 at Woolwich Dockyard. She was designed by William Bateley, and was the only ship built to her draught...
under Admiral Alan Gardner
Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner
Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner was a British Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He became one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral.-Naval career:...
both attacked the same ship, Queen suffering severely from the earlier actions in which her masts were badly damaged and her captain John Hutt
John Hutt (Royal Navy officer)
Captain John Hutt was an officer of the British Royal Navy who served with distinction during the American Revolutionary War and died in 1794 from severe wounds received during the battle of the Glorious First of June, the first major naval battle of the French Revolutionary Wars...
mortally wounded. Both ships bore down on the French Northumberland
French ship Northumberland (1780)
The Northumberland was a 74-gun Annibal class ship of the line of the French Navy.She took part in the Battle of the Saintes under captain Saint Cézaire, who was killed in the action. In 1782, she captured the 14-gun sloop HMS Allegiance....
, which was soon dismasted and left attempting to escape on only the stump of a mast. Queen was too slow to engage Northumberland as closely as Orion, and soon fell in with Jemmappes, both ships battering each other severely.
Rear
Of the British rear ships, only two made a determined effort to break the French line. Admiral Hood's flagship HMS Royal GeorgeHMS Royal George (1788)
HMS Royal George was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched from Chatham Dockyard on 16 September 1788. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only other ship built to her draught...
pierced it between Républicain
French ship Royal Louis (1780)
The Royal Louis was a 106-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.She was renamed Républicain in 1792. Under this name, she took part in the Third Battle of Ushant, being the last ship of the French rear...
and Sans Pareil
French ship Sans Pareil
Five ships of the French Navy have born the name Sans Pareil :* Sans Pareil, a 62-gun ship of the line * Sans Pareil, a 50-gun ship of the line...
, engaging both closely, while HMS Glory
HMS Glory (1788)
HMS Glory was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 5 July 1788 at Plymouth.Glory served as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Stirling at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805....
came through the line behind Sans Pareil and threw herself into the melee as well. The rest of the British and French rearguard did not participate in this close combat; HMS Montagu
HMS Montagu (1779)
HMS Montagu, sometimes spelled Montague, was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 August 1779 at Chatham Dockyard....
, with her captain James Montagu killed in the opening exchanges, fought a long range gunnery duel with Neptune
French ship Neptune (1778)
The Neptune was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.Under Latouche Tréville, she captured a 30-gun British privateer named Hercules on 28 October 1778.In 1782, she was part of de Grasse's squadron...
which damaged neither ship severely. Next in line, HMS Ramillies
HMS Ramillies (1785)
HMS Ramillies was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 July 1785 at Rotherhithe.In 1801, she was part of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's reserve squadron at the Battle of Copenhagen, and so did not take an active part in the battle.In August 1812, Sir Thomas Masterman...
ignored her opponent completely and sailed west, Captain Henry Harvey
Henry Harvey
Admiral Sir Henry Harvey, KB was a long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy during the second half of the eighteenth century. Harvey participated in numerous naval operations and actions and especially distinguished himself at the Glorious First of June in command of...
seeking Brunswick, his brother's ship, in the confused action around Queen Charlotte.
Three other British ships failed to respond to the signal from Howe, including HMS Alfred
HMS Alfred (1778)
HMS Alfred was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 22 October 1778 at Chatham.She fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1780.Alfred was broken up in 1814....
which engaged the French line at extreme range without noticeable effect, and Captain Charles Cotton
Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet
Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet was a senior Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars whose service continued until his death in command of the Channel Fleet from apoplexy in 1812. During his service, Cotton saw action off the Eastern Seaboard of the Thirteen Colonies and...
in HMS Majestic
HMS Majestic (1785)
HMS Majestic was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line launched on 11 December 1785 at Deptford. She fought at the Battle of the Nile, where she engaged the French ships Tonnant and Heureux, helping to force their surrenders...
who likewise did little until the action was decided, at which point he took the surrender of several already shattered French ships. Finally HMS Thunderer
HMS Thunderer (1783)
HMS Thunderer was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at the Wells brother's shipyard in Rotherhithe and launched on 13 November 1783...
under Albemarle Bertie
Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions....
took no part in the initial action at all, standing well away from the British line and failing to engage the enemy despite the signal for close engagement hanging limply from her mainmast. The French rear ships were no less idle, with Entreprenant
French ship Entreprenant (1787)
The Entreprenant was a Téméraire class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy.In December 1792, she assisted the Languedoc. She was taken by the British when they captured Toulon, but was recaptured....
and Pelletier
French ship Séduisant (1783)
Séduisant was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class.She was renamed Pelletier on 30 September 1793, in honour of Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau. Under Savary, she was one of the last ships of the line at the Glorious First of June.On 30 May 1795 her name...
firing at any British ships in range but refusing to close or participate in the melees on either side. The French rear ship Scipion
French ship Saint-Esprit (1766)
The Saint-Esprit was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She was offered by the Order of the Holy Spirit, and named in its honour....
did not attempt to join the action either, but could not avoid becoming embroiled in the group around Royal George and Républicain and suffered severe damage.
Melee
William Johnstone Hope
Vice Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope, GCB was a prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, whose career experienced fleet actions, disputes with royalty, party politics and entry to both Russian and British...
sought to extract his ship from her perilous position and called up support; the frigate HMS Latona under Captain Edward Thornbrough
Edward Thornbrough
Admiral Sir Edward Thornbrough, GCB was a senior, long-serving veteran officer of the British Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. He saw action in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, being wounded several times and...
arrived to provide assistance. Thornbrough brought his small ship between the ships of the French battleline and opened fire on Eole, helping to drive off three ships of the line and then towing Bellerophon to safety. Leviathan, under Lord Hugh Seymour
Lord Hugh Seymour
Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the late 18th century who was the fifth son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford and became known for being both a prominent society figure and a highly competent naval officer...
, had been more successful than Bellerophon, her gunnery dismasting America despite receiving fire from Eole and Trajan in passing. Leviathan only left America after a two-hour duel, sailing at 11:50 to join Queen Charlotte in the centre.
Russell had not broken the French line and her opponent Témeraire got the better of her, knocking away a topmast and escaping to windward with Trajan and Eole. Russell then fired on several passing French ships before joining Leviathan in attacking the centre of the French line. Russell's boats also took the surrender of America, her crew boarding the vessel to make her a prize (although later replaced by men from Royal Sovereign). Royal Sovereign lost Admiral Graves to a serious wound and lost her opponent as well, as Terrible fell out of the line to windward and joined a growing collection of French ships forming a new line on the far side of the action. Villaret was leading this line in his flagship Montagne, which had escaped from Queen Charlotte, and it was Montagne which Royal Sovereign engaged next, pursuing her close to the new French line accompanied by Valiant, and beginning a long-range action.
Behind Royal Sovereign was Marlborough, inextricably tangled with Impétueux. Badly damaged and on the verge of surrender, Impétueux was briefly reprieved when Mucius appeared through the smoke and collided with both ships. The three entangled ships continued exchanging fire for some time, all suffering heavy casualties with Marlborough and Impétueux losing all three of their masts. This combat continued for several hours. Captain Berkeley of Marlborough had to retire below with serious wounds, and command fell to Lieutenant John Monkton, who signalled for help from the frigates in reserve. Robert Stopford responded in HMS Aquilon, which had the assignment of repeating signals, and towed Marlborough out of the line as Mucius freed herself and made for the regrouped French fleet to the north. Impétueux was in too damaged a state to move at all, and was soon seized by sailors from HMS Russell.
Dismasted, Defence was unable to hold any of her various opponents to a protracted duel, and by 13:00 was threatened by the damaged Républicain moving from the east. Although Républicain later hauled off to join Villaret to the north, Gambier requested support for his ship from the fleet's frigates and was aided by HMS Phaeton under Captain William Bentinck
William Bentinck
William Bentinck may refer to:* William Bentinck, 1st Count Bentinck * William Bentinck , Royal Navy officer* Lord William Bentinck , British statesman...
. As Impétueux passed she fired on Phaeton, to which Bentinck responded with several broadsides of his own. Invincible, the only ship of the forward division of the British centre to engage the enemy closely, became embroiled in the confusion surrounding Queen Charlotte. Invincible's guns drove Juste
French ship Deux Frères
The Deux Frères was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was offered to King Louis XVI by his two brothers.On 29 September 1792, she was renamed Juste. She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, where she was captured....
onto the broadside of Queen Charlotte, where she was forced to surrender to Lieutenant Henry Blackwood
Henry Blackwood
Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet, GCH, KCB , whose memorial is in the St. John's Church, Killyleagh, was a British sailor....
in a boat from Invincible. Among the other ships of the division there were only minor casualties, although HMS Impregnable
HMS Impregnable (1786)
HMS Impregnable was a Royal Navy 98-gun second rate. This ship of the line was launched on 15 April 1786 at Deptford Dockyard. She was wrecked in 1799 off Spithead.-Service:...
lost several yards
Yard (sailing)
A yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set. It may be constructed of timber, steel, or from more modern materials, like aluminium or carbon fibre. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards , the term is usually used to describe the horizontal spars used with square sails...
and was only brought back into line by the quick reactions of two junior officers, Lieutenant Robert Otway
Robert Otway
Admiral Sir Robert Waller Otway, 1st Baronet, GCB was a senior Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century who served extensively as a sea captain during the Napoleonic War and later supported the Brazilian cause during the Brazilian War of Independence...
and Midshipman Charles Dashwood.
The conflict between Queen Charlotte and Montagne was oddly one-sided, the French flagship failing to make use of her lower-deck guns and consequently suffering extensive damage and casualties. Queen Charlotte in her turn was damaged by fire from nearby ships and was therefore unable to follow when Montagne set her remaining sails and slipped to the north to create a new focal point for the survivors of the French fleet. Queen Charlotte also took fire during the engagement from HMS Gibraltar, under Thomas Mackenzie, which had failed to close with the enemy and instead fired at random into the smoke bank surrounding the flagship. Captain Sir Andrew Snape Douglas
Andrew Snape Douglas
Sir Andrew Snape Douglas was a distinguished Scottish sea captain in the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars.-Family and early life:...
was seriously wounded by this fire. Following Montagnes escape, Queen Charlotte engaged Jacobin and Républicain as they passed, and was successful in forcing the surrender of Juste. To the east of Queen Charlotte, Brunswick and Vengeur du Peuple continued their bitter combat, locked together and firing main broadsides from point blank range. Captain Harvey of Brunswick was mortally wounded early in this action by langrage fire from Vengeur, but refused to quit the deck, ordering more fire into his opponent. Brunswick also managed to drive Achille off from her far side when the French ship attempted to intervene. Achille, already damaged, was totally dismasted in the exchange and briefly surrendered, although her crew rescinded this when it became clear Brunswick was in no position to take possession. With her colours rehoisted, Achille then made what sail she could in an attempt to join Villaret to the north. It was not until 12:45 that the shattered Vengeur and Brunswick pulled apart, both largely dismasted and very battered. Brunswick was only able to return to the British side of the line after being supported by Ramillies, while Vengeur was unable to move at all. Ramillies took Vengeur's surrender after a brief cannonade but was unable to board her and instead pursued the fleeing Achille, which soon surrendered as well.
To the east, Orion and Queen forced the surrender of both Northumberland and Jemmappes, although Queen was unable to secure Jemmappes and she had to be abandoned later. Queen especially was badly damaged and unable to make the British lines again, wallowing between the newly reformed French fleet and the British battleline along with several other shattered ships.(Manderson served as a lieutenant aboard HMS Queen) Royal George and Glory had between them disabled Scipion and Sans Pareil in a bitter exchange, but were also too badly damaged themselves to take possession. All four ships were among those left drifting in the gap between the fleets.
French recovery
Villaret in Montagne, having successfully broken contact with the British flagship and slipped away to the north, managed to gather 11 ships of the line around him and formed them up in a reconstituted battle squadron. At 11:30, with the main action drawing to a close, he began a recovery manoeuvre intended to lessen the tactical defeat his fleet had suffered. Aiming his new squadron at the battered Queen, Villaret's attack created consternation in the British fleet, which was unprepared for a second engagement. However, discerning Villaret's intention, Howe also pulled his ships together to create a new force. His reformed squadron consisted of Queen Charlotte, Royal Sovereign, Valiant, Leviathan, Barfleur and Thunderer. Howe deployed this squadron in defence of Queen, and the two short lines engaged one another at a distance before Villaret abandoned his manoeuvre and hauled off to collect several of his own dismasted ships that were endeavouring to escape British pursuit. Villaret was subsequently joined by the battered Terrible, which sailed straight through the dispersed British fleet to reach the French lines, and he also recovered the dismasted Scipion, Mucius, Jemmappes and Républicain — all of which lay within reach of the unengaged British ships — before turning eastwards towards France. At this stage of the battle, the septuagenarian Howe retired below and the British consolidation was left to his Captain of the FleetCaptain of the fleet
In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a Captain of the Fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command....
, Sir Roger Curtis
Roger Curtis
Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, 1st Baronet, GCB was an officer of the British Royal Navy, who saw action in several battles during an extensive career that was punctuated by a number of highly controversial incidents...
. Curtis was subsequently blamed by some in the Navy for not capturing more of the dismasted French ships, and was also accused of actively dissuading Howe from attempting further pursuit.
HMS Culloden (1783)
HMS Culloden was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 June 1783 at Rotherhithe. She took part in some of the most famous battles of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars....
, as well as the services of the cutter HMS Rattler, saved any of the Vengeur's crew from drowning, these ships taking off nearly 500 sailors between them. Lieutenant John Winne of Rattler was especially commended for this hazardous work. By 18:15, Vengeur was clearly beyond salvage and only the very worst of the wounded, the dead and the drunk remained aboard. Several sailors are said to have waved the tricolour from the bow of the ship and cried "Vive la Nation, vive la République!"
Having escaped to the east, Villaret made what sail his battered fleet could muster to return to France, and dispatched his frigates in search of the convoy. Villaret was also hoping for reinforcements; eight ships of the line, commanded by Admiral Pierre-François Cornic, were patrolling near the Ushant
Ushant
Ushant is an island at the south-western end of the English Channel which marks the north-westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and is in the traditional region of Bro-Leon. Administratively, Ushant is a commune in the Finistère department...
headland. Behind him to the west, the British took the whole night to secure their ships and prizes, not setting out to return to Britain until 05:00 on 2 June.
Casualties in the battle are notoriously hard to calculate exactly. With only one exception aboard Scipion, records made by the French captains of their losses at the time are incomplete. The only immediately available casualty counts are the sketchy reports of Saint-André and the records made by British officers aboard the captured ships, neither of which can be treated as completely reliable. Most sources accept that French casualties in the campaign numbered approximately 7,000, including around 3,000 captured, but these figures are vague and frequently do not agree with each other on details. British casualties are easier to confirm but here too there are some discrepancies; overall British casualties are generally given as around 1,200.
The convoy arrives
With a large portion of his fleet no longer battleworthy, Howe was unable to resume his search for the French convoy in the Bay of Biscay. The AdmiraltyAdmiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, though unaware of Howe's specific circumstances, knew a battle had taken place through the arrival of HMS Audacious
HMS Audacious (1785)
HMS Audacious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 July 1785 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship to bear the name....
in Portsmouth, and was preparing a second expedition under George Montagu. Montagu had returned to England after his unsuccessful May cruise, and was refitting in Portsmouth when ordered to sea again. His force of ten ships was intended to both cover Howe's withdrawal from Biscay, and find and attack the French grain convoy. Montagu returned to sea on 3 June, and by 8 June was off Ushant searching for signs of either the French or Howe; unknown to him, neither had yet entered European waters. At 15:30 on 8 June Montagu spotted sails, and soon identified them as the enemy. He had located Cornic's squadron, which was also patrolling for the convoy and the returning fleets. Montagu gave chase and drove Cornic into Bertheaume Bay, where he blockaded the French squadron overnight, hoping to bring them to action the following day. However, on 9 June, Montagu sighted 19 French ships appearing from the west—the remnants of Villaret's fleet. Hastily turning his ships, Montagu sailed south to avoid becoming trapped between two forces which might easily overwhelm him. Villaret and Cornic gave chase for a day before turning east towards the safety of the French ports.
Howe benefited from Montagu's withdrawal, as his own battered fleet passed close to the scene of this stand-off on 10 June, pushing north into the English Channel. With Villaret and Cornic fortuitously pursuing Montagu to the south, Howe was free to pass Ushant without difficulty and arrived off Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 12 June, joined soon afterwards by Montagu. Villaret had anchored with Cornic in Bertheaume Bay the day before, but Saint-André refused to allow him to enter Brest until the republican attitudes of the town's population had been assessed. On 12 June, the convoy from America finally arrived off France, having lost just one ship in passage during a storm.
Aftermath
Both Britain and France claimed victory in the battle: Britain by virtue of capturing or sinking seven French ships without losing any of her own and remaining in control of the battle site; France because the vital convoy had passed through the Atlantic unharmed and arrived in France without significant loss. The two fleets were showered by their respective nations with both praise and criticism — the latter particularly directed at those captains not felt to have contributed significantly to the fighting. The British fleet in SpitheadSpithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
was treated with a Royal visit by King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
and the entire royal household.
France
In France the revolutionary principles of precluded extensive awards, but Villaret was promoted to vice-admiral and other minor awards were distributed to the admirals of the fleet. In addition the fleet's officers took part in a celebratory parade from Brest to Paris, accompanying the recently arrived food supplies. Opinion in France concerning the battle's outcome was divided; while many celebrated Saint-André's exaggerated accounts of victory in Le Moniteur, senior naval officers disagreed. Among the dissenters was the highly experienced but recently dismissed Admiral KerguelenYves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec
Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec was a Breton explorer and French naval officer.- Early life:He was born in Landudal, Finistère. During the Seven Years' War, Kerguelen-Trémarec was a privateer, but without much success....
. Kerguelen was disgusted by Villaret's failure to renew the battle after he had reformed his squadron, and felt that the French fleet could have been successful tactically as well as strategically if only Villaret had made greater efforts to engage the remains of Howe's fleet. The French Navy had suffered its worst losses in a single day since the Battle of La Hogue in 1692.
Ultimately the revolutionary excesses of the period would prove disastrous for the French Navy. Poor leadership, conflicting and arbitrary orders and the decimation of the experienced seamen in the ranks promoted a negative attitude in the French officer corps. The French battlefleet did not contest British dominance in Northern European waters again, and their raiding operations repeatedly ended in failure at the hands of more confident British squadrons and the unforgiving Atlantic weather. By 1805, when the last great French fleet to take to the sea was crushed at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, poor training and low investment in the Navy had reduced its efficiency to levels unthinkable 20 years earlier.
Britain
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
as Baron Graves
Baron Graves
Lord Graves, Baron of Gravesend, in the County of Londonderry, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1794 for the naval commander Admiral Thomas Graves. He was second in command at the Battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794. His son, the second Baron, represented Okehampton,...
, while Vice-Admiral Hood was made Viscount Bridport
Viscount Bridport
Viscount Bridport is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation became extinct in 1814 while the second creation is still extant. Sir Alexander Hood, younger brother of Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood,...
. Rear-Admirals Bowyer, Gardner, Pasley and Curtis (the last-named was promoted from Captain on 4 July 1794) were all made baronets, and Bowyer and Pasley also received pensions of £1,000 a year to compensate them for their severe wounds. All first lieutenants were promoted to commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
and numerous other officers were promoted in consequence of their actions. The thanks of parliament were unanimously passed to all who fought at the action and various other gifts and awards were distributed among the fleet. A memorial to Captains John Hutt and John Harvey, both of whom had died of their wounds on 30 June, was raised in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
.
There was, however, a bitter consequence of the awards, rooted in Howe's official dispatch to the Admiralty concerning the battle, which according to some accounts was actually written by Curtis. Howe had appended a list to his report containing the names of officers whom he believed merited special reward for their part in the battle. The list included Vice-Admirals Graves and Hood, Rear-Admirals Bowyer, Gardner and Pasley, Captains Seymour, Pakenham, Cranfield-Berkeley, Gambier, John Harvey, Payne, Henry Harvey, Pringle, Duckworth, Elphinstone, Nichols and Hope. Also mentioned were Lieutenants Monkton and Donnelly. The list had omitted a number of officers who had served in the battle, and the justice of their omission was a highly controversial issue in the Navy. Rear-Admiral Caldwell was the sole British flag officer present not to receive a hereditary honour, although he was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 4 July (as were Bowyer and Gardner). After studying the ship's logs and reports of the battle, the Admiralty minted a medal to be awarded to the living captains on the list only (although Captain William Parker of HMS Audacious was awarded one as well). The captains excluded from the list were furious, and the furore from this selective commendation lasted years: in 1795 Vice-Admiral Caldwell quit the service in anger as a result, while Cuthbert Collingwood, flag captain of Barfleur, refused all awards for future service until the Glorious First of June medal was presented to him as well. He eventually received it after the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. Over five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.
Bitterest of all was the whispering campaign directed at Anthony Molloy, captain of HMS Caesar. Molloy was accused of cowardice by fellow officers for his failure to follow Howe's orders on both 29 May and 1 June. Requesting an official court-martial to clear his name, Molloy's legal bid failed, and although his personal courage was not called into question, his professional ability was. Molloy was dismissed from his ship, a punishment which effectively fired him from the Navy.
Of the captured ships, several were purchased and enjoyed long careers in the Royal Navy, in particular the two 80-gun ships HMS Sans Pareil
HMS Sans Pareil (1794)
HMS Sans Pareil was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the French ship Sans Pareil, but was captured in 1794 and spent the rest of her career in service with the British.-French service:...
which was decommissioned in 1802 but not broken up until 1842, and HMS Juste
French ship Deux Frères
The Deux Frères was a 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was offered to King Louis XVI by his two brothers.On 29 September 1792, she was renamed Juste. She took part in the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2, where she was captured....
, which was a popular command until her decommissioning in 1802 at the Peace of Amiens. Of the four 74-gun prizes, Achille and Northumberland (both 74s built in the late 1770s) were broken up as unserviceable soon after arrival in Britain, while Impétueux was destroyed in a dockyard fire on 24 August 1794 while undergoing repairs. America, the final prize, was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS America but renamed HMS Impetueux
French ship America (1788)
America was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1794 at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. She then served with the British under the name HMS Impetueux until she was broken up in 1813...
in July 1795 and remained in service until 1813. The combined prize money
Prize money
Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing an enemy vessel...
for these ships was £201,096 ((the equivalent of £ as of ), divided among the ships under Lord Howe's command.