Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue - Battle of Barfleur

Battle of Barfleur

The fleets sighted each other at first light on 29 May 1692, off Cap Barfleur. On sighting the allied fleet Tourville held a conference with his officers. Their advice, and his own opinion, was against action; however Tourville felt bound by strict orders from the king to engage. He may also have expected some defections by English captains with Jacobite sympathies, though in this he was to be disappointed. In the light southwesterly breeze the fleets slowly closed, Russell from the northeast, and Tourville, who had the weathergage, from the south, on a starboard tack to bring his line of battle into contact with Russell's. Both fleets were in three squadrons, each split into three divisions and commanded by a flag officer.

Because of the calm conditions it was not until after 11 am, five hours after first sighting each other, that the two fleets engaged. Tourville had reinforced his centre, the White squadron under his own command, in order to engage Russell's Red squadron with close to equal numbers. Elsewhere, he sought to minimize damage by extending and refusing the van, to avoid them being turned and overwhelmed, while the rear was held back to keep the weathergage. Russell countered by holding fire as long as possible, to allow the French to come closer; Almonde, in the van extended to try to overlap the French line, while Admiral Ashby, with the rear and some way off, sought to close and bring his Blue squadron into action. From around 11 am, and for the next few hours, both fleets bombarded each other, causing considerable damage.

The battle continued for the rest of the day and into the night and was full of incident. At 1 pm a change in the wind allowed Rear Admiral of the Red Sir Cloudesley Shovell to break the French line and the Dutch to start enveloping the French van. At 4 pm a flat calm descended, leaving both fleets in a fog. A 6 pm Tourville was able to use the tide to gain a respite, and at 8 pm Shovell used the same tide for a fireship attack.

By 10 pm the battle was almost over. Surprisingly, though most ships on both sides were damaged, and some severely, no ships from either battle line were lost. At the turn of the tide, Tourville again took advantage of this to cut cables and be carried down channel on the ebb, away from the scene of battle. Russell also cut when he realized what had happened, to give chase into the night.