The Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue took place during the Nine Years' War, between 19 May O.S. and 4 June O.S. 1692. The first was fought near Barfleur on 19 May O.S., with later actions occurring between 20 May O.S. and 4 June O.S. at Cherbourg and Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue in Normandy, France.
The Battle of Beachy Head, also known as the Battle of Bévéziers, was a fleet action fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. The battle was the most significant French naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the war. The Dutch lost a number of ships of the line and three fireships; their English allies also lost one ship of the line, whereas the French did not lose a single vessel. Control of the English Channel temporarily fell into French hands but Vice-Admiral Anne Hilarion de Tourville failed to pursue the Anglo-Dutch fleet with sufficient vigour, allowing it to fall back to the Thames.
Anne-Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville was a French Navy officer and nobleman who served under King Louis XIV. Born in Paris, he was made a Marshal of France in 1693. Tourville is considered by some as one of the most talented naval officers in French military history.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rooke was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and again at the Battle of Schooneveld during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain, he conveyed Prince William of Orange to England and took part in the Battle of Bantry Bay during the Williamite War in Ireland.
The action at Barfleur was part of the battle of Barfleur-La Hougue during the War of the Grand Alliance. A French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville was seeking to cover an invasion of England by a French army to restore James II to the throne, but was intercepted by an Anglo-Dutch fleet under Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford on 19 May Old Style 1692.
The Soleil Royal was a First Rank ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.
HMS Stirling Castle was a 70-gun third-rate built at Deptford Dockyard, in 1678/79. She was in active commission for the War of the English Succession, fighting in the Battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. HMS Stirling Castle underwent a rebuild at Chatham Dockyard in 1699. She was in the Cadiz operation in 1702. The ship was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands off Deal on 27 November 1703. The remains are now a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
Alain-Emmanuel de Coëtlogon was a Marshal of France during the reign of Louis XIV and Louis XV.
Stopping the tide was a manoeuver in use during the age of sail. In seas with a strong tide, such as those off the coasts of western Europe, particularly the Channel, the force of the tide on a ship could equal, or surpass, the power derived from sails. So for a ship moving along the Channel in light breezes, a favourable tide could double its speed; contrariwise, when the tide changed the ship could be slowed to a halt, or even be swept backwards. To cope with this, ships would anchor, "stopping the tide", to preserve their progress. The technique played an important role in the naval conflicts of the period.
Admiral Sir Ralph Delaval was an English Royal Navy officer. He was a member of a junior branch of the Delaval family of Seaton Delaval, Northumberland. Delaval was born at Dissington Hall, Ponteland, an estate he ultimately inherited and sold to Edward Collingwood of Byker in 1673. He enlisted in the navy at a young age and progressed under the patronage of the Duke of York to become captain of the third-rate ship of the line HMS York.
The action at Cherbourg was fought on 21 and 22 May Old Style 1692 as part of the aftermath of the Battle of Barfleur which had just been fought on 19 May 1692.
The Triomphant was a ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. One of two sisterships designed and built by Laurent Hubac. Started as Brave in Brest and launched on 20 June 1675, she was renamed Constant six days later, and completed in 1676; she was renamed Triomphant on 28 June 1678. She took part in the Battle of Beachy Head on July 10, 1690, and in the Battle of Barfleur on May 29, 1692.
The Ponant Fleet was the designation under the Ancien Regime for the naval vessels of the Royal French Navy in the English Channel, Atlantic Ocean and Americas, the latter principally in the French West Indies and New France. The fleet carried out operations such as asserting naval supremacy and protecting convoys. Its counterpart was the Levant Fleet, based in the Mediterranean Sea.
Dauphin Royal was a 104-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was built at Toulon Dockyard, designed and constructed by François Pomet. She took part in the Battle of Beachy Head on 10 July 1690 (N.S.) and the Battle of Lagos on 28 June 1693, both times as flagship of Lieutenant-Général Louis-François de Rousselet, Comte de Châteaurenault, under Vice-Admiral Tourville. She was decommissioned in 1698 or 1699, and broken up in 1700.
The Saint Philippe was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Royal Navy. She was built at Brest Dockyard, designed and constructed by Laurent Hubac. She was nominally a three-decker, but in practice the upper deck was divided into armed sections aft and forward of the unarmed waist, making the upper deck equivalent to a quarterdeck and forecastle.
The Foudroyant was a First Rank ship of the line of the French Royal Navy, the lead vessel in the two-ship Foudroyant Class.
The Merveilleux was a First Rank ship of the line of the French Royal Navy, the second vessel in the two-ship Foudroyant Class.
The Terrible was a First Rank ship of the line of the French Royal Navy.
Brillant was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was first classified as a Second-rank ship, and later reclassified as a Third-rank. She was built between 1689 and 1690 at Le Havre, under supervision by engineer Étienne Salicon. She served until 1719, and took part in the Nine Years' War (1688–1697) and the War of Spanish Succession (1702–1714).
Stern of the Soleil Royal, design by Jean Bérain
Stern of the Soleil Royal, design by Jean Bérain
The Battle of La Hogue 23 May 1692
The Battle of La Hogue by Benjamin West, 1778
Kingdom of France
