Battle of Ouessant (1778)
| date | July 27, 1778 |
|---|---|
| place | 130 kilometers west of Ouessant |
| output | draw |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 30 ships of the line, 6 frigates, 2 cutters, Brander, a total of 2468 guns, 19,000 men | 32 ships of the line, 16 frigates, a total of 2564 guns, 20,000 men |
| losses | |
|
700 men dead or wounded |
500 men dead or wounded |
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The sea battle at Ouessant (Fr.Bataille d'Ouessant , en. Battle of Ushant ; in German literature the location of the event is also given as Quessant ) on July 27, 1778 was the first sea battle between Great Britain and France during the American War of Independence . It ended without a decision.
prehistory
Britain had been at war against the American independence movement since 1775. In 1778 France sided with the Americans and war broke out with Great Britain. France intended to invade Great Britain. For this, however, the canal fleet had to be defeated decisively.
Augustus Keppel , who had previously been a Whig and a member of the House of Commons, opposed the government's course of war, has been given command of the Canal Fleet as admiral. A problem from the outset was that Hugh Palliser had received a subordinate command under Keppel. He was one of the Lords of the Admiralty and a supporter of the government.
Keppel hoisted his flag on the HMS Victory as his flagship. When he arrived at the Spithead fleet , it was in poor condition. Only a few ships were operational. After the official declaration of war, the number of operational ships of the line could be increased to twenty. With these he set out in June and attacked two frigates off the French coast . This was the first act of war between France and Great Britain. Keppel returned to England to reinforce his fleet, having learned that thirty-two French warships were waiting in Brest .
With a fleet of now thirty ships of the line, six frigates, two cutters and two fire engines , Keppel set out again and met the French fleet under Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers , at Ushant . This had left Brest on July 8th. It consisted of 32 ships of the line and 16 frigates.
After the fleets were in sight for the first time on July 23, a hurricane-like storm prevented a battle for several days.
course
It was not until July 27 that the two fleets met again about 130 kilometers west of the island of Ushant. The weather was favorable. There was a strong southwest wind. The English vanguard attacked the French rearguard, trying to break through the French line to separate the rearguard from the main force. This attempt failed after a bitter gun battle lasting about two hours. The battle and other circumstances had loosened the British line and Keppel could only use twelve ships to renew the fight. Another reason was that some of his signals were ignored. There was another artillery duel.
For a time, D'Orvilliers hoped to cut off the English rearguard from the main power. This opportunity could not be used because the sub-commander of Louis-Philippe II. Joseph de Bourbon, duc d'Orléans had not immediately obeyed an order. Keppel tried to take the opportunity to attack the enemy rearguard with a superior force. D'Orvillier was able to anticipate this with a maneuver because the French ships had better sailing characteristics and the combat damage to the sails and rigging was not as great as on the British side. The evasive maneuver caused the fleets to drift apart. When night fell, the gunfire ceased.
consequences
The clash between the two fleets had almost no military consequences. Neither side could capture or sink an enemy ship. Both fleets returned to their ports.
The French and the English accused each other of evasive behavior. In Britain, the fruitless battle sparked a heated public debate over responsibility for it. The argument focused on Keppel and Hugh Palliser. Both also accused each other. The trial of the court martial against both opponents was viewed differently depending on the party opinion. The trial against Keppel lasted a total of five weeks and was widely discussed in public. Overall, however, public opinion and that of the Navy were more on the side of Keppel. There were even violent protests in London. Both accused were acquitted but lost their posts. In France, d'Orvillier's performance was hardly less critical. He was removed from his command and entered a monastery.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Here was partly used: Gaston Bodart: Military-historical War Lexicon, (1618-1905) . Vienna 1908, p. 256.
- ^ Friedrich Saalfeld: General history of the latest time: Since the beginning of the French revolution . FA Brockhaus, January 1, 1823 ( google.de [accessed September 30, 2016]).
- ↑ contemporary example: The trial of the Honorable Augustus Keppel, Admiral of the Blue Squadron (…) Portsmouth, 1779 digitized
literature
- Alfred Thayer Mahan : The influence of sea power on history, Vol. 1 Berlin 1898, pp. 334–338.
- L. von Henk: The warfare at sea in its most important epochs. Berlin 1884, pp. 265-266.
- Russell Frank Weigley: The age of battles: the quest for decisive warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo. Bloomington 2004, pp. 241-244.
- David Eggenberger: An encyclopedia of battles: accounts of over 1,560 battles from 1479 BC to the present . New York 1985, p. 454.