Sea Battle of Beachy Head

Sea Battle of Beachy Head

Part of: War of the Great Alliance

Sea battle of Beachy Head steel engraving by Jean Antoine Théodore de Gudin

date	June 30th jul. / July 10, 1690 greg.
place	in front of Beachy Head
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France	England United Netherlands
Commander
Anne de Tourville Victor-Marie d'Estrées François de Chateau-Renault	Arthur Herbert Cornelis Evertsen Ralph Delaval
Troop strength
68 ships of the line, 5 frigates, 38 smaller ships with a total of 4,646 cannons and a crew of 28,000	56 ships of the line, no frigates, 20 smaller ships with a total of 3,696 cannons and a crew of 22,000
losses
1000 men	4000 men, 10 Dutch ships of the line and 690 guns.

The information on troop strength and losses can differ significantly in the literature.

The sea ​​battle of Beachy Head (en. Battle of Beachy Head , French Bataille du cap Béveziers , nl. Slag bij Beachy Head or Slag bij Bevesier ), off East Sussex and the English Channel coast , took place on June 30th ^July. / July 10, 1690 ^greg. between French fleets on the one hand and the fleets of the allied Dutch and English on the other during the War of the Great Alliance or Nine Years War. It ended in a French victory. However, it did not lead to permanent dominance over the English Channel .

prehistory

Map overview

The French admiral Tourville had the order to destroy the enemy fleet and prepare a landing in England. The French fleet left Brest on June 23, 1690 . It consisted of about 70 ships of the line and 18 Brandern (ships that were prepared to set fire to enemy ships). This was the strongest fleet France had ever sent.

The equipment of the English and Dutch started late and their ships were scattered. Therefore, the allied fleet was significantly weaker. The allies had 57 ships of the line and 11 fires. Of these, 22 ships belonged to the Dutch, who formed the vanguard under Admiral Cornelis Evertsen . Overall Commander in Chief was the English Admiral Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington .

The allied fleet was hardly prepared and only found out about their approach shortly before the encounter with the French. The English admiral tried to avoid the overpowering enemy to the east.

The fleets had visual contact for the first time on July 3. A lack of wind prevented a battle for several days. Since the strength of the enemy was completely wrongly estimated in London, the order arrived at the fleet on July 9th to attack the French fleet and drive it out of English waters.

course

On July 10th the northeasterly wind was favorable and the English admiral ordered a keel line to be formed and the French fleet to sail. Both fleets were divided into three squadrons: Vanguard, Middle and Rear Guard. The Allied squadrons attacked their respective counterparts on the French side.

The Dutch Admiral Evertsen drove with his squadron for close combat to the enemy and opened fire at 9 o'clock. The rear guard followed at 9:30 a.m. The middle squadron under the English Admiral Lord Torrington, however, kept distance to the enemy, creating a gap to the other two squadrons. He also stayed away from the enemy later. The English admiral was later charged for his reluctance, but acquitted.

During the battle between the two rearguard squadrons, 23 French ships faced 13 English ships. For the English, the battle started off quite favorably, as some French ships were badly damaged and left the battle. The vanguard squadrons were equally strong with 22 ships each. The Dutch fleet had already suffered as it approached and was also attacked by ships of the medium-sized squadron. These drove through the gap mentioned and could attack the Dutch from behind. The Dutch admiral only managed with difficulty to save his fleet from total destruction.

At 3 o'clock the wind fell asleep. At 5 o'clock the tide set in. Admiral Evertsen ordered the anchor to be cast with sails standing. The English ships followed suit. The French apparently had not seen through the maneuver and were drifting away in the ebb current. When they too anchored, the enemy fleet was already out of range.

consequences

A ship of the allies had been captured by the French, numerous ships of the advance and rearguard were badly damaged. Various Dutch ships were dismasted and barely kept afloat. When night fell, the allies tried to get to safety. But it was precisely the withdrawal that led to heavy losses. One English and six Dutch ships sank or were set on fire so that they would not fall into the hands of the enemy.

The French admiral refrained from a general hunt and this enabled most of the English and Dutch ships to escape. The allied fleet virtually failed completely for weeks.

However, the French failed to take advantage of the rule of the English Channel during this period.

literature

• Gaston Bodart: Military-historical War Lexicon, (1618-1905) . Vienna, 1908 p. 112
• Von Alten: Handbook for Army and Navy. Berlin, 1910 p. 3f.
• JCM Warnsinck: De vloot van den Koning-Stadhouder 1689-1690 . Amsterdam 1934.