Background
King James II was campaigning in Ireland as a first step in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne following his deposition after the 'Glorious Revolution'. In August 1689 Marshall Schomberg had been sent from England to bolster the forces loyal to King William, but his army had stalled through the winter of 1689–90, suffering from sickness and desertion. As early as January 1690 it was clear to William that he would have to sail personally to Ireland, with substantial reinforcements, in order to salvage the situation.
The main Allied fleet under Admiral Torrington was stationed in the English Channel; a substantial part of the fleet was in the Mediterranean under Vice Admiral Henry Killigrew, which the Earl of Nottingham, William's Secretary of State and chosen naval advisor, hoped would neutralize the French Toulon squadron. Sir Cloudesley Shovell remained in the Irish Sea, but his squadron was much too small to stop the French controlling these waters if they chose to do so. However, the French decided not to use their fleet as a subsidiary to the Irish campaign; King Louis XIV instead directed his navy against Torrington in the Channel. Although 6,000 French troops under the command of the Comte de Lauzun were successfully ferried across to Ireland to aid James on 17 March, the French fleet under the Comte de Tourville returned to Brest on 1 May and there remained inactive during May and June whilst the grand fleet was assembling.
This French inaction had provided William with the opportunity he desired. On 21 June William embarked his forces at Chester on board 280 transports, escorted by only six men-of-war commanded by Shovell. On 24 June, unmolested by the French fleet, William landed in Carrickfergus with 15,000 men for his Irish campaign, much to the consternation of James' chief lieutenant in Ireland the Earl of Tyrconnel, who later wrote "The want of a squadron of French men-of-war in St George's Channel has been our ruin ... "
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Beachy Head (1690)
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