Naval Battle of Lagos (1693)

Naval battle at Lagos

Part of: War of the Palatinate Succession

Battle of Lagos (not contemporary painting by Théodore Gudin )

date	June 28, 1693
place	at Lagos
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France	England
Commander
Anne de Tourville	George Rooke
Troop strength
71 ships of the line	21 ships of the line, 1 frigate, 5 smaller vehicles, (excluding the armed merchants)
losses
about 500 men dead or wounded	2500 men dead or wounded, 2000 men captured. Loss of ships of the line 3, losses of merchant ships 70-100

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

In the sea ​​battle near Lagos (also sea ​​meeting at Cape Saint Vincent , attack on the Smyrna convoy ) on June 28, 1693, a large English-Dutch convoy was destroyed by the French fleet. The cape (also called Cabo de São Vicente or French: 'Cap Saint Vincent') together with the neighboring Ponta de Sagres forms the southwestern tip of Portugal and Europe.

prehistory

Allied convoys sailed from the North Sea and the English Channel to Smyrna and other ports in the Mediterranean both during the War of the Palatinate Succession and later during the War of the Spanish Succession .

However, after the Dutch governor-general William of Orange became King of England (1689), France faced an alliance between the two naval powers. The sea power Spain, the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and even Sweden (France's previous ally) joined this alliance . Although Tourville and d'Estrées managed to land Wilhelm's opponent James II in Ireland (1689) after the sea ​​meeting off Bantry Bay (May 1689), the Jacobites, allied with France, were defeated on land, and Tourville also used his at sea A united Anglo-Dutch fleet won the sea ​​battle of Beachy Head (June 1690), so that the English and Dutch destroy the French squadrons individually in the naval battles of Barfleur and La Hougue (May 1692) and the planned French landing in England could make impossible.

France was now focused on a pirate war. The sea battle at Lagos was the first major action. Also in 1693, Tourville captured 24 warships in an attack on Málaga and set the rest on fire. Shortly afterwards, the privateer Jean Bart freed a Scandinavian grain convoy destined for France from Dutch control (1694) and then another in front of the Dogger Bank (1696).

In 1697 French privateers destroyed Spanish ships in the port of Cartagena (Colombia). In the Peace of Rijswijk (autumn 1697), those involved ended the War of the Palatinate Succession.

1693

About 400 English and Dutch merchant ships had gathered off the Isle of Wight . In France, partisans of the deposed King James were well informed about what was going on in England. On May 27, a French fleet of 71 ships of the line under Admiral Tourville had set sail from Brest in the direction of the Bay of Lagos . Their goal was to intercept the annual Smyrna convoy. Arrived off Lagos, Tourville had two squadrons of 16 and 18 ships respectively crossed at Cape St. Vincent . The main fleet was in the bay and camouflaged with English and Dutch flags.

The Anglo-Dutch convoy left the roadstead on June 9 and was directed by the combined Dutch-English navy (76 ships of the line) to about 36 nautical miles from Cape Ouessant . There the ships destined for the Caribbean and America separated from the merchants destined for the Levant and Spain and Portugal. The majority of the warships returned to their home waters because, due to errors in the English maritime authorities, nothing was known about the large French fleet. There they feared a landing attempt on the British Isles. The commanders on site had failed to check whether the French main fleet was still in the port of Brest. In addition, the English fleet had too few supplies on board and wanted to replenish them in Torbay.

The other merchant ships destined for Spain, Portugal and the Mediterranean continued to sail. Off the Portuguese coast, the merchant ships destined for Lisbon separated from the main convoy with a small escort of warships. This convoy, about 130 to 140 merchant ships, was protected by a navy under Admiral Rooke and the Dutch Admiral van der Goes. This consisted of 15 ships of the line, 10 smaller ships, 4 fire engines and 2 mortar boats.

course

On June 26th, the allied fleet sighted some French ships. But these withdrew. On the morning of the 27th, the allies sighted about 10 enemy ships of the line and then started the attack. A small ship was captured and its commander claimed that Tourville would escort a convoy to Toulon with relatively weak forces . The Anglo-Dutch convoy therefore continued its journey. At 10 o'clock, however, the entire French fleet came into view. Further ahead there were 18 ships in Luv were 16 ships under Admiral Gabaret and Lee 40 ships under Tourville itself. After the French admiral had verified that it was not a convoy with a relatively low coverage, he gave the order to attack .

Admiral Rooke saw the hopelessness of his position. He ordered the merchant ships to get to safety if possible. The ships located close under land were advised to seek shelter in Spanish ports, but only a few succeeded. He wanted to cover the rest with the ships of the line so that they could escape. He set up a battle line and at 6 p.m. the French squadron under Gabaret was up. The two Dutch ships Zeeland under Philip Schrijver and Wapen van Medemblik under Jan van der Poel turned towards land and thus attracted part of the French ships. After a heavy fight, both ships were taken by the French. Impressed by the heroism of the two captains, Tourville asked them after their capture whether they were "men or devils". Rooke described the Dutch action as "one of the best endeavors he has ever seen in battle."

This gave Rooke the opportunity to escape with the rest of his ships during the night. Together with 50 merchant ships he reached Madeira . The French captured or sank numerous ships during the night and the next day. Others were beached by their crew.

consequences

The Anglo-Dutch main fleet remained largely inactive even after the destruction of the Smyrna convoy became known. The commanders in chief were indicted but acquitted by the House of Commons because the failures were mainly in the naval command in London.

A total of 70 to 100 merchant ships carrying goods worth a million pounds sterling were lost. Most of the lost ships were of Dutch origin. But the English losses were also high. Only the fire of 1666 hit the trading center of London as badly as the loss of merchant ships. The French sold the captured prizes for 30 million livres. This corresponded to the entire fleet budget for 1692. The defeat even threatened the alliance and the stability of the English rule of William of Orange . He was forced to dismiss the previous commander in chief of the fleet and replace him with Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford . The Whigs won a majority in the House of Commons .

literature

• Rudolph Rittmeyer: Naval wars and naval warfare in their world-historical significance. Volume 1: From the beginning to 1740 . LTR-Verlag, Neufahrn 1984, ISBN 3-88706-232-9 , pp. 457-460 (unchanged reprint of the Berlin 1907 edition).
• Georg von Alten (Hrsg.): Handbook for Army and Fleet. Encyclopedia of Martial Sciences and Allied Fields. Volume 5: Idstein - Leipzig . Bong, Berlin 1913, pp. 784f.
• Cathal J. Nolan: Wars of the age of Louis XIV , 1650-1715. An encyclopedia of global warfare and civilization . Greenwood Press, Westport 2008, ISBN 978-0-313-33046-9 , p. 439.
• Arnout L. van Schelven: Philips van Almonde . Admiraal in de gecombineerde vloot 1644–1711 . Dissertation. University of Amsterdam 1947.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Here was partially related: Gaston Bodart (Ed.): Military-historical War Lexicon, (1618-1905) . Stern-Verlag, Vienna 1908, p. 117.
2. ^ Nicholas Rodger : The Command of the Ocean . WW Norton & Company, New York City 2004, ISBN 978-0-393-06050-8 .
3. ^ Nicholas Rodger : A naval history of Britain. Volume 2: The command of the ocean. 1649-1815 . Norton, New York 2005, ISBN 0-393-06050-0 , pp. 153f.

Web links

• List of allied ships of the line involved