Admiral of the Blue Edward Boscawen, PC was a British admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall, England. He is known principally for his various naval commands during the 18th century and the engagements that he won, including the siege of Louisburg in 1758 and Battle of Lagos in 1759. He is also remembered as the officer who signed the warrant authorising the execution of Admiral John Byng in 1757, for failing to engage the enemy at the Battle of Minorca (1756). In his political role, he served as a Member of Parliament for Truro from 1742 until his death in 1761 although, due to almost constant naval employment, he seems not to have been particularly active. He also served as one of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on the Board of Admiralty from 1751 and as a member of the Privy Council from 1758 until his death.
The naval Battle of Lagos took place between a British fleet commanded by Edward Boscawen and a French fleet under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran over two days in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. They fought south west of the Gulf of Cádiz on 18 August and to the east of the small Portuguese port of Lagos, after which the battle is named, on 19 August.
Admiral Philip Affleck was an admiral in the Royal Navy. He was the younger brother of Sir Edmund Affleck. Affleck held various commands throughout the latter half of the 18th Century, most notably as commander-in-chief of the Jamaica Station and as a Lord of the Board of Admiralty. Early in his career he fought at the Siege of Louisbourg where he was promoted commander after carrying out a successful cutting-out mission. He was promoted to post-captain a year later after impressing Admiral Edward Boscawen during the Battle of Lagos. Later in his career he joined Admiral Sir George Rodney in the West Indies and took part in the capture of Sint Eustatius. Between 1790 and 1792 he held the position of commander-in-chief of the Jamaica Station and between 1793 and 1796 he held his position as a Lord of the Board of Admiralty. Although his career was marked with long periods of inaction and unemployment Admiral Affleck was known as a good officer and was well respected by his peers.
HMS Dublin was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Adam Hayes at Deptford Dockyard and launched on 6 May 1757.
HMS Warspite was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 8 April 1758 at Deptford.
HMS Sandwich was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 April 1759 at Chatham.
HMS Edgar was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1758 at Rotherhithe. The physician Thomas Denman served on Edgar until 1763. She was sunk as a breakwater in 1774.
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.
The Foudroyant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was later captured and served in the Royal Navy as the Third Rate HMS Foudroyant.
Centaure was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched at Toulon in 1757. She was designed by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb and named on 25 October 1755, and built under his supervision at Toulon. In French service she carried 74 cannon, comprising: 28 × 36-pounders on the lower deck, 30 × 18-pounders on the upper deck, 10 × 8-pounders on the quarterdeck, 6 × 8-pounders on the forecastle.
Téméraire was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, ordered in December 1747 to a design by François Coulomb, and built at Toulon by his cousin, the constructor Pierre-Blaise Coulomb; she was launched on 24 December 1749. Her 74 guns comprised:
28 × 36-pounders on the lower deck
30 × 18-pounders on the upper deck
10 × 8-pounders on the quarterdeck
6 × 8-pounders on the forecastle.
HMS Expedition was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line built at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1677/79. She was in active commission during the War of the English Succession participating in the battles of Beachy Head and Barfleur. She was rebuilt in 1699. Again, for the War of Spanish Succession she was in commission for the operation at Cadiz then returned to England where she sat for two years. She was in the Mediterranean for the Battle of Marbella in 1705. She then went to the West Indies and fought in Wager's action off Cartagena in 1708. She was rebuilt in 1709-14 to the 1706 Establishment. She spent her time split between the Baltic and as guard ship at Portsmouth before being broken at Portsmouth in 1736. She was rebuilt in 1736/40 at Deptford Dockyard.
HMS Swiftsure was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1755 and in active service during the Seven Years' War. After a distinguished career at sea she was decommissioned in 1763 and sold into private hands ten years later.
HMS Orford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched in 1749.
HMS Princess was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had served for ten years as the Princesa for the Spanish Navy, until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession.
Terrible was originally a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy launched in 1739. Captured on 14 October 1747, she was taken into Royal Navy service as the third rate HMS Terrible.
HMS Monarch was originally the 74-gun ship of the line Monarque of the French Navy launched in March 1747. Captured on 14 October 1747, she was taken into Royal Navy service as the third rate HMS Monarch.
HMS Active was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate sailing frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1758. She was one of the captors of the Spanish ship Hermione. After Hermione surrendered, her captors found that she carried a large cargo of gold and silver that would lead to the greatest single amount of prize money awarded to the crew of a British warship.
HMS Levant was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Coventry class, which saw Royal Navy service against France in the Seven Years' War, and against France, Spain and the American colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Principally a hunter of privateers, she was also designed to be a match for small French frigates, but with a broader hull and sturdier build at the expense of some speed and manoeuvrability. Launched in 1758, Levant was assigned to the Royal Navy's Jamaica station from 1759 and proved her worth by defeating nine French vessels during her first three years at sea. She was also part of the British expedition against Martinique in 1762 but played no role in the landings or subsequent defeat of French forces at Fort Royal.
HMS Intrepid was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, originally built in Toulon for the French Navy. She was launched in 1740, as Sérieux and fought at the Battle of Toulon before her capture by the British at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747. After being renamed and refitted by the Royal Navy, she entered British service in late 1747. Between 1748 and 1752 she was assigned as a guard ship off the coast of Kent in south-east England.
France
Great Britain