Battle of Quiberon Bay

The Battle of Quiberon Bay, Nicholas Pocock, 1812. National Maritime Museum

Date	20 November 1759
Location	Quiberon Bay, Bay of Biscay 47°31′N 3°0′W / 47.517°N 3.000°W / 47.517; -3.000Coordinates: 47°31′N 3°0′W / 47.517°N 3.000°W / 47.517; -3.000
Result	Decisive British victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

France

Commanders and leaders

Sir Edward Hawke

Comte de Conflans

Strength

24 ships of the line
5 frigates

21 ships of the line
6 frigates

Casualties and losses

2 ships of the line wrecked,
400 killed.

6 ships of the line destroyed,
1 ship of the line captured,
2,500 killed/drowned.

The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as Bataille des Cardinaux in French), was a decisive naval engagement fought on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War between the Royal Navy and the French Navy. It was fought in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. 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 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.

The battle signalled the rise of the Royal Navy in becoming the world's foremost naval power, and, for the British, was part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.

During 1759, the British, under Hawke, maintained a close blockade on the French coast in the vicinity of Brest. In that year the French had made plans to invade England and Scotland, and had accumulated transports and troops around the Loire estuary. The defeat of the Mediterranean fleet at the Battle of Lagos in August made the invasion plans impossible, but Choiseul still contemplated a plan for Scotland, and so the fleet was ordered to escape the blockade and collect the transports assembled in the Gulf of Morbihan.

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