Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke,, of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Saxton with Scarthingwell, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate HMS Berwick, he took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. He also captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747.
Baron Hawke, "of Towton" in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created on 20 May 1776 for Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, responsible for a blockade of all French merchant shipping and the grounding of six French ships, and scattering of the rest, at the Battle of Quiberon Bay. The battle followed an earlier British victory at the Battle of Lagos off the coast of Portugal by a fleet under another admiral's command.
The Battle of Quiberon Bay was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near Saint-Nazaire. The battle was the culmination of British efforts to eliminate French naval superiority, which could have given the French the ability to carry out their planned invasion of Great Britain. A British fleet of 24 ships of the line under Sir Edward Hawke tracked down and engaged a French fleet of 21 ships of the line under Marshal de Conflans. After hard fighting, the British fleet sank or ran aground six French ships, captured one and scattered the rest, giving the Royal Navy one of its greatest victories, and ending the threat of French invasion for good.
Dominic Serres (1722–1793), also known as Dominic Serres the Elder, was a French-born painter strongly associated with the English school of painting, and with paintings with a naval or marine theme. Such were his connections with the English art world, that he became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and was later briefly its librarian.
Admiral Sir Hugh Francis Paget Sinclair,, known as Quex Sinclair, was a British intelligence officer. He was Director of British Naval Intelligence between 1919 and 1921, and he subsequently helped to set up the Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ.
The second battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval encounter fought during the War of the Austrian Succession on 25 October 1747 (N.S.). A British fleet of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke intercepted a French convoy of 250 merchant ships, sailing from the Basque Roads in western France to the West Indies and protected by eight ships of the line commanded by Vice Admiral Henri-François des Herbiers.
Events from the year 1759 in Great Britain. This year was dubbed an "Annus Mirabilis" due to a succession of military victories in the Seven Years' War against French-led opponents.
Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, 1st Baronet was a Royal Navy officer who was the fourth son of Admiral Sir William Rowley. Sir Joshua was from an ancient English family, originating in Staffordshire (England) and was born on 1 May 1734. Rowley served with distinction in a number of battles throughout his career and was highly praised by his contemporaries. Unfortunately whilst his career was often active he did not have the opportunity to command any significant engagements and always followed rather than led. His achievements have therefore been eclipsed by his contemporaries such as Keppel, Hawke, Howe and Rodney. Rowley however remains one of the stalwart commanders of the wooden walls that kept Britain safe for so long.
Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans was a French naval commander.
Quiberon Bay is an area of sheltered water on the south coast of Brittany. The bay is in the Morbihan département.
Sir John Strachan was a baronet and chief of Clan Strachan. He served in the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of captain and commanding a number of warships. His nephew, Richard Strachan, would also go on to have a distinguished career in the navy.
HMS Lion or Lyon was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the 1706 Establishment and launched on 20 January 1709.
HMS Burford was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1754, and launched in 1757.
A French invasion of Great Britain was planned to take place in 1759 during the Seven Years' War, but due to various factors was never launched. The French planned to land 100,000 French soldiers in Britain to end British involvement in the war. The invasion was one of several failed French attempts during the 18th century to invade Britain.
John Thomas Serres was an English maritime painter who enjoyed significant success, including exhibiting extensively at the Royal Academy, and was for a time Maritime Painter to King George III.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 rearranged the political map of Europe, and led to a series of wars with France that lasted well over a century. This was the classic age of sail; while the ships themselves evolved in only minor ways, technique and tactics were honed to a high degree, and the battles of the Napoleonic Wars entailed feats that would have been impossible for the fleets of the 17th century. Because of parliamentary opposition, James II fled the country. The landing of William III and the Glorious Revolution itself was a gigantic effort involving 100 warships and 400 transports carrying 11,000 infantry and 4,000 horses. It was not opposed by the English or Scottish fleets.
The Western Squadron was a squadron or formation of the Royal Navy based at Plymouth Dockyard. It operated in waters of the English Channel, the Western Approaches, and the North Atlantic. It defended British trade sea lanes from 1650 to 1814 and 1831 to 1854. Following Admiralty orders to Lord Anson he was instructed to combine all existing commands in the English Channel - those at the Downs, Narrow Seas, Plymouth and the Spithead - under a centralized command under the Commander-in-Chief, Western Squadron in 1746. The squadron was commanded by the Flag Officer with the dual title of Commander-in-Chief, English Channel and Commander-in-Chief, Western Squadron
The Piazza at Havana is a landscape painting by the French-born British artist Dominic Serres. It depicts the scene during the British occupation of Havana in Cuba following Britain's capture of the city from Spain during the Seven Years' War. British troops in redcoats are shown parading in the Plaza Vieja while British sailors are in the foreground. Serres painted a series of works focusing on the taking of Havana for the Keppel family, three of whom led the British campaign. The title uses the Italian loan word piazza, common in English during the era, rather than the Spanish plaza.
The Battle of Camperdown is a 1799 history painting by the Anglo-American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the conclusion to the naval Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797 fought in the North Sea between the British Royal Navy and the French-Allied Dutch during the French Revolutionary Wars. A decisive victory for the British fleet, Copley's picture shows the British Admiral Adam Duncan accepting the surrender of the Dutch commander Jan Willem de Winter. Its fuller title is The Surrender of the Dutch Admiral de Winter to Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown.
The Battle of La Houge is a 1778 painting by the Anglo-American artist Benjamin West depicting the 1692 Battle of La Hogue. Fought off the coast of Normandy the battle was decisive victory for the Royal Navy and its Dutch Allies, thwarting an expected French Invasion of England.
