Battle of Lagos
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The naval Battle of Lagos took place on 19 August 1759 during the Seven Years' War off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and is named after Lagos, Portugal.
Origins
The ministers of King Louis XV of France planned to invade England in 1759, during the Seven Years' War. An army had been collected at Vannes, in the south-east of Brittany, and transports had been brought together in the landlocked waters of the Morbihan which are connected with Quiberon Bay. The scheme of the French ministers was to combine twenty-one ships of the line lying at Brest under the command of de Conflans, with twelve which were to be brought round from Toulon by de la Clue. The army was then to be carried to some point on the coast of England or Scotland by the united squadrons.The task of blockading M. de la Clue at Toulon was given to Admiral Edward Boscawen, who had with him fourteen sail of the line. Boscawen reached his station on the 16th of May 1759. At the beginning of July want of stores and water, together with the injury inflicted on some of his vessels by a French battery, compelled him to go to Gibraltar to provision and refit. He reached the port on the 4th of August. On the 5th de la Clue left Toulon, and on the 17th passed the straits of Gibraltar, where he was sighted by the look-out ships of Boscawen.
Battle
The British fleet hurried out to sea, and pursued in two divisions, separated by a distance of some miles owing to the haste with which they left port. During the night of the 17th and 18th of August five of de la Clue's ships lost sight of his flagship, and steered for Cadiz. The other seven, which had been delayed for a time in the hope of rejoining their consorts, were overtaken by Boscawen and attacked in the afternoon of the 18th. One, Centaur 74, was captured after a very gallant resistance, in which the British flagship was severely damaged. Boscawen transferred to Newark.During the night of the 18th/19th of August, two of the French ships altered course to the west, and escaped. The remaining four fled to the north, and into Portuguese waters near Lagos, where two were driven ashore and destroyed, while Téméraire and Modeste were captured.
Aftermath
De la Clue was mortally wounded, and died ashore in Portugal. The five ships in Cadiz were blockaded by Boscawen's second-in-command, Admiral Broderick.Although the defeat of the French squadron ruined an integral part of their scheme to invade the British Isles, the French decided to persevere with their attack. The scheme was finally put to rest in November after the French naval defeat at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.
After refitting, several of Boscawen's victorious Mediterranean ships were sent to join Admiral Hawke's fleet off Ushant, and five were with Hawke when he destroyed the Brest fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.
Britain
Namur 90 (flag)Newark
Jersey
others
France
Océan 80 (flag) - Aground and burnt 19 AugustTéméraire 74 - Captured 19 August
Modeste64 - Burnt 19 August
Redoubtable 74 - Aground and burnt 19 August
Souverain 74
Guerrier 74
Centaure 74 - Captured 18 August
Sources & references
- Beatson. Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 321 et seq.
- Clowes, W.L. (ed.). The Royal Navy; A History, from the Earliest Times to the Present, Volume III. (London 1898).
- Jenkins, E.H. A History of the French Navy (London 1973).
- Marcus, G. Quiberon Bay; The Campaign in Home Waters, 1759 (London, 1960).
- Troude. Batailles navales de la France, vol. i. p. 379 et seq.
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