Battle of Lagos

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Lagos
partof=Seven Years' War


caption=
date=August 18 and August 19 1759
place=Between Gibraltar and Lagos, Portugal
casus=
territory=
result=Decisive British victory
combatant1=Britain
combatant2=France
commander1=Sir Edward Boscawen
commander2=Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran†
strength1=14 ships of the line
strength2=12 ships of the line
casualties1=
casualties2=Two ships of the line lost by the French, and three taken.The naval Battle of Lagos took place on August 19 1759 during the Seven Years' War off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and is named after Lagos, Portugal.

Origins

The ministers of King Louis XV of France planned to invade England in 1759, during the Seven Years' War. An army had been collected at Vannes, in the south-east of Brittany, and transports had been brought together in the landlocked waters of the Morbihan which are connected with Quiberon Bay. The scheme of the French ministers was to combine twenty-one ships of the line lying at Brest under the command of de Conflans, with twelve which were to be brought round from Toulon by de la Clue. The army was then to be carried to some point on the coast of England or Scotland by the united squadrons.

The task of blockading M. de la Clue at Toulon was given to Admiral Edward Boscawen, who had with him fourteen sail of the line. Boscawen reached his station on May 16 1759. At the beginning of July want of stores and water, together with the injury inflicted on some of his vessels by a French battery, compelled him to go to Gibraltar to provision and refit. He reached the port on August 4. On August 5 de la Clue left Toulon, and on August 17 passed the straits of Gibraltar, where he was sighted by the look-out ships of Boscawen.

Battle

The British fleet hurried out to sea, and pursued in two divisions, separated by a distance of some miles owing to the haste with which they left port. During the night of 17/August 18 five of de la Clue's ships lost sight of his flagship, and steered for Cadiz. The other seven, which had been delayed for a time in the hope of rejoining their consorts, were overtaken by Boscawen and attacked in the afternoon of August 18. One, "Centaure" 74, was captured after a very gallant resistance, in which the British flagship was severely damaged. Boscawen transferred to "Newark".

During the night of 18/August 19, two of the French ships ("Souverain" and "Guerrier") altered course to the west, and escaped. The remaining four fled to the north, and into Portuguese waters near Lagos, where "Océan", de la Clue's flagship, and "Redoutable" were driven ashore and destroyed, while "Téméraire" and "Modeste" were captured.

Aftermath

De la Clue was mortally wounded, and died ashore in Portugal. The five ships in Cadiz were blockaded by Boscawen's second-in-command, Admiral Broderick.

Although the defeat of the French squadron ruined an integral part of their scheme to invade the British Isles, the French decided to persevere with their attack. The scheme was finally put to rest in November after the French naval defeat at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.

After refitting, several of Boscawen's victorious Mediterranean ships were sent to join Admiral Hawke's fleet off Ushant, and five were with Hawke when he destroyed the Brest fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.

A young slave named Olaudah Equiano, who would eventually become a prominent abolitionist in England, participated in the engagement on the English side. He included an account of the battle in his autobiography, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano".

Ships involved:

Britain

"Namur" 90 (flag)
"Prince" 90
"Newark" 80
"Warspite" 74
"Culloden" 74
"Conqueror" 70
"Swiftsure" 70
"Edgar" 64
"St Albans" 64
"Intrepid" 60
"America" 60
"Princess Louisa" 60
"Jersey" 60
"Guernsey" 50
"Portland" 50
There were also 14 other smaller British ships present - the 40-gun "Ambuscade" and "Rainbow", the 36-gun "Shannon" and "Active", the 32-gun "Thetis", five 24-gun Sixth Rates ("Lyme", "Gibraltar", "Glasgow", "Sheerness" and "Tartar's Prize"), two 16-gun sloops ("Favourite" and "Gramont") and two 8-gun fireships ("Aetna" and "Salamander").

France

"Océan" 80 (flag) - Aground and burnt August 19
"Téméraire" 74 - Captured August 19
"Modeste" 64 - Captured August 19
"Redoutable" 74 - Aground and burnt August 19
"Souverain" 74 - escaped
"Guerrier" 74 - escaped
"Centaure" 74 - Captured August 18

References

*Beatson. Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 321 et seq.
*Clowes, W.L. (ed.). The Royal Navy; A History, from the Earliest Times to the Present, Volume III. (London 1898).
*Jenkins, E.H. A History of the French Navy (London 1973).
*Marcus, G. Quiberon Bay; The Campaign in Home Waters, 1759 (London, 1960).
*Troude. Batailles navales de la France, vol. i. p. 379 et seq.
*1911