John Benbow was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, whereupon he returned to the Royal Navy and was commissioned.
HMS Vanguard was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1678.
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 her a 98-gun ship; she possessed a crew of approximately 750. Her design class sisters were the Prince George, Princess Royal, and Formidable. She was a ship of long service and many battles.
HMS Royal Oak was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Jonas Shish at Deptford and launched in 1674. She was one of only three Royal Navy ships to be equipped with the Rupertinoe naval gun. Life aboard her when cruising in the Mediterranean Sea in 1679 is described in the diary of Henry Teonge.
The action of August 1702 was a naval battle that took place from 19–25 August 1702 O.S. between an English squadron under Vice-Admiral John Benbow and a French under Admiral Jean du Casse, off Cape Santa Marta on the coast of present-day Colombia, South America, during the War of the Spanish Succession. Benbow vigorously attacked the French squadron, but the refusal of most of his captains to support the action allowed du Casse to escape. Benbow lost a leg during the engagement and died of illness about two months later. Two of the captains were convicted of cowardice and shot.
HMS Breda was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard on 23 April 1692. She was named after the Declaration of Breda made in 1660 by Charles II of England.
HMS Prince was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett the Younger at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1670.
Bienfaisant was a 64-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1754.
HMS Greenwich was a 54-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Christopher Pett at Woolwich Dockyard and launched in 1666.
HMS Royal James was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Sir Anthony Deane and built by his successor as Master Shipwright at Portsmouth Dockyard, Daniel Furzer, and launched in 1675. She was renamed HMS Victory on 7 March 1691 after the old second rate Victory of 1666 was condemned by survey and taken to pieces. Recommissioned in January 1691 under Captain Edward Stanley, as the flagship of Admiral Sir John Ashby she participated in the Battle of Barfleur on 19 May 1692 – 24 May 1692.
HMS Oxford was a 54-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Francis Baylie in Bristol and launched in June 1674. Her guns comprised twenty-two 24-pounders on the lower deck, with twenty-two large sakers (8-pounders) on the upper deck and ten smaller sakers (5-pounders) on the quarter deck.
HMS Assistance was a 40-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, originally built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England at Deptford, and launched in 1650. By 1677 her armament had been increased to 48 guns.
HMS Burford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Woolwich Dockyard in 1679 as part of the Thirty Ships Programme of 1677. She fought in the War of English Succession, including the Battle of Barfleur, before being rebuilt at Deptford in 1699, remaining as a 70-gun third rate. During the War of Spanish Succession she was mostly in the Mediterranean fleet and fought at the capture of Gibraltar and the Battle of Málaga in 1704 before being extensively repaired between 1710 and 1712 at Portsmouth Dockyard. Burford served in the Baltic in 1715 and 1717 before returning to the Mediterranean to fight the Spanish at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. She was wrecked on the Italian coast in a storm on 14 February 1719.
HMS Expedition was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 10 September 1679.
HMS Suffolk was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by contract of 20 February 1678 by Sir Henry Johnson at his Blackwall Yard and launched in May 1680. Suffolk was commanded by Captain Wolfran Cornwall at the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690, and by Captain Christopher Billopp at the Battle of Barfleur in 1692.
HMS Triumph was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Chatham Dockyard on 2 March 1697. She was renamed HMS Prince in 1714.
Richard Kirkby was an officer of the Royal Navy during the eighteenth century. He rose to the rank of captain but was later tried at a court-martial for his conduct during the action of August 1702, and being convicted of cowardice and disobedience was executed by firing squad.
HMS Newcastle was a 50-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Sheerness Dockyard and launched on 10 March 1704.
HMS Tilbury was a 58-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, ordered from Portsmouth Dockyard on 17 December 1742 to be built to the dimensions laid down in the 1741 proposals of the 1719 Establishment. She was launched on 20 July 1745.
HMS Dunkirk was a 60-gun fourth-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 22 July 1754.
Great Britain 