1st Battle of Cape Finisterre

Posted by Albert Parker on Saturday 19th of November 2022 23:35

If there was a "decisive" naval battle of the war it was the Battle of October 14/25, 1747, also called a "Battle of Cape Finisterre" although it was fought several hundred miles or kilometers from the point of land in northwest Spain. Between them, the two battles in the Bay of Biscay in 1747 cost the French navy 7 ships of the line of 64–74 guns and 4 older or smaller two-deckers. The French navy still had over 20 ships of the line but the French government considered its navy incapable to further operations, perhaps because of the number of seamen captured. But 5 of the 7 losses among 64+-gun ships were at the October battle, not the one in May. The October battle had protected a vital convoy taking food to the West Indies but stripped it of the long-range escort that might have brought back the inbound trade with its valuable cargoes of sugar and other tropical products, marooning them in the West Indies. However, the French army had conquered the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) and was in the process of invading the Dutch Republic, enabling the return to the status quo ante in the 1748 Peace of Utrecht—so nothing had been decided at all, at least for Britain and France (decisions: Prussia could keep Silesia; Maria Theresa could keep the rest of her domains except for a small slice of the Duchy of Milan).

Posted by Richard Gamble on Saturday 19th of November 2022 20:42

This was the decisive naval battle of the war and was, immediately, recognized as such by the English press. The news of Admiral Anson’s victory on May 3 was carried by to England by Captain Davis in the Centurion. The Admiralty Office issued a press release with the details on Saturday May 16 (Old Style). The London Gazette newspaper then released a special supplement that same afternoon with the details provided by Anson’s “express” to the Admiralty. On Sunday the 17th all London church bells pealed and King George took a carriage ride in Hyde Park to celebrate.

Posted by Albert Parker on Tuesday 13th of August 2013 03:54

British sources seem to assign definite articles (le, la, l' in French) to French and Spanish warships more or less at random. French sources and accounts often prefix an article to every ship. Usually, ships of the line are masculine and thus "le <Shipname>," and frigates and smaller vessels are feminine and thus "la <Shipname>." There was nothing special about Jason, Diamant, Vigilant, Invincible, or Thétis that would merit and article while the other ships did not.
The British navy did not use French articles with the names of its own warships, such as Monmouth and Prince Frederick.