by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
On 6 February France signed a friendship and commercial treaty with the American Congress, and a month later officially advised the British government that it considered the colonials had already won their independence. War between Great Britain and France was now...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 1, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Revelling in their capture of the rebel capital Philadelphia during the previous autumn, the British and their American loyalist allies were able to enjoy a socially-charged, relaxed and indulgent winter in the city, staging balls, theatrical productions and...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 1, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
When intelligence was received that the trade in the waters around Barbados was about to be attacked by a group of American privateers from South Carolina, the British merchantmen were ordered to remain in port whilst the Yarmouth 64, Captain Nicholas Vincent, was...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 3, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Having enjoyed the hospitality of the French Navy and the Congressional ambassador to Paris, Benjamin Franklin, whilst refitting his ship, the American privateer commander John Paul Jones departed Brest aboard the Ranger 18 on 10 April with the intention of bringing...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 4, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
With war against France now inevitable, a grand fleet began commissioning at Spithead under the command of Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel. Ever anxious to involve himself in the administration of the realm, and being an attentive follower of all matters naval, King...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 18, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
On 13 April Vice-Admiral Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Comte d’Estaing, who fifteen years before had joined the French navy from the rank of lieutenant-general in the army, departed Toulon with a fleet of eleven sail of the line, a 50-gun ship, five...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
In early May the dull-sailing sloop Porcupine 20, Captain Hon. William Clement Finch, arrived in the Delaware River from England with despatches announcing the imminent commencement of hostilities with France. The news that the Porcupine brought for the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 18, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel was the equal of Lord Howe as the finest officer in the navy, but being an eminent Whig he was a bitter opponent of the war against the American colonies and as a consequence had refused to join the colours against them. Following the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 4, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Having departed New York waters on 22 July following his decision not to run the risk of challenging Vice-Admiral Lord Howe’s defensive position off Sandy Hook, Vice-Admiral the Comte d’Estaing had initially sailed his Toulon fleet of twelve sail of the line...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
On 7 July news of the impending war with France reached the British governor-general at Calcutta, and with immediate effect the commander-in-chief in the East Indies, Commodore Sir Edward Vernon, was ordered to assist the army under Major-General Hector Munro in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
News of the outbreak of war with France had failed to reach the Jamaican-based frigate Minerva 32, Captain John Stott, when on 22 August she came across an unknown vessel whilst cruising near Cap François in the West Indies. Initially suspecting the stranger to be a...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 7, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
In early September the British frigate Fox 28, Captain the Hon. Thomas Windsor, was despatched from the Channel fleet off Ushant by Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel to search for the French fleet which was then believed to be at sea in the vicinity of Cape Finisterre....
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 17, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Few officers were more active in the American Revolutionary War than Captain Sir James Wallace, who whilst commanding the Experiment 50 did not have to go seeking action – it normally found him. So it was that whilst cruising in Boston Bay about thirty miles...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 29, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Having been distracted by the arrival of the French fleet off New York and the organisation of the defence of Rhode Island, General Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief in North America, resolved to regain something of the initiative by launching an...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 19, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
There were few officers in the navy more attentive to their duty than Captain Alan Gardner of the nine-pounder frigate Maidstone 28. The world was a black and white place to the gruff pugnacious man from the Midlands, and there was a huge gulf in his mind between...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 27, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
On 3 November, as the sailing season in North American waters drew to an end with the onset of winter, the French Toulon fleet of twelve sail of the line under the command of Vice-Admiral Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, the Comte d’Estaing departed unfriendly...
