by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 15, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Following Sir George Rodney’s return from France, where he had flown to escape his creditors, Britain was at last able to place one of her most skilful, if unpopular, admirals in charge of a major fleet. Appointed commander-in-chief of the strategically...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 17, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Moonlight Battle off Cape St. Vincent – 16 January 1780 On Christmas Day 1779, Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands station, set sail from St. Helens having completed the equipment of...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 24, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Following a comprehensive victory in the Moonlight Battle of 18 January and its subsequent relief of Gibraltar, the British fleet re-entered the Atlantic Ocean and on 18 February parted company with the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir George Rodney and his West...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 25, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Operating out of the Jamaican station where his badly damaged ship had fled following the Battle of Grenada the previous July, Captain Hon. William Cornwallis of the Lion 64 was cruising in the Windward Passage to the north of Monte Cristi, Haiti, in company...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 30, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Battle of Martinique -17 April 1780 On 27 March 1780 the new commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands, Admiral Sir George Rodney, arrived at St Lucia from Europe with reinforcements of four sail of the line to bolster the number of ships under the command...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 4, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
In June 1776 Commodore Sir Peter Parker and Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton?s forces had suffered a large number of casualties in failing to capture the port of Charleston in South Carolina. Notwithstanding that disaster, the British government continued...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 14, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Leeward Islands Campaign – May-July 1780 Following the disappointing Battle of Martinique on 17 April, Admiral Sir George Rodney had remained on patrol off that island for some time to prevent the French fleet, which had put into Basseterre,...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 25, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Channel fleet?s 1780 campaign could not have got off to a worse start when on 18 May, a day after re-hoisting his flag at Spithead, the commander-in-chief Admiral Sir Charles Hardy died aboard the Victory. He may not have been universally esteemed, but in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 7, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Spanish Fire-Ship Attack on Gibraltar – 7 June 1780 Despite the replenishment of Gibraltar on 19 January by Admiral Sir George Rodney’s fleet and attendant merchant vessels, the Spanish had not let up in their determined campaign to regain the rock...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 14, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Captain Philemon Pownall was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the finest officers in the navy. Aged in his mid-forties, his background as the son of a shipbuilder had given him an excellent technical knowledge, and this advantage supplemented his...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 17, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Almost fifteen years to the day before he affected the famous ‘Cornwallis’ Retreat’ off Brittany, a feat which was to prove the zenith of a most distinguished career, Captain Hon. William Cornwallis brought off another bold defensive strategy...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 19, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Nonsuch v Belle Poule – 16 July 1780 As the American War of Revolution progressed, so the omnipresent Captain Sir James Wallace remained as active as ever. Despite his command, the Experiment 50, having been captured by the French fleet off North America...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 23, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Operating out of Port Mahon on the island of Minorca, the sloop Porcupine 24, Captain Sir Charles Henry Knowles, had already made one, albeit fruitless, cruise in company with the sloop Minorca 18, Commander Hugh Lawson, when she was ordered to undertake...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 23, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Loss of Captain Moutray’s Convoy – 9 August 1780 As the war continued, so the French and Spanish allies began to obtain the upper hand at sea by sheer weight of numbers. British resources were soon stretched to the limit, and no more so than in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 25, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Early in August 1780, one of the first eighteen-pounder frigates to be ordered for the British Navy, the Deptford-built Flora 36, Captain William Peere Williams, sailed from Spithead to link up with Admiral Francis Geary?s Channel Fleet. At 4.30 on the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 29, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
In early August Captain John MacBride of the Bienfaisant 64 was ordered to take command of a convoy of some hundred vessels that had congregated at Cork, along with its escort otherwise consisting of the Charon 44, Captain Thomas Symonds, Licorne 32, Captain...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 3, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Admiral Rodney v Admiral Arbuthnot – September – November 1780 Vice-Admiral Marriot Arbuthnot, the commander-in-chief of the British Navy in North America, was not the easiest of officers to work with, as General Sir Henry Clinton, his equivalent in...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 20, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The ‘Great Hurricanes’ devastate the Caribbean – October 1780 When Admiral Sir George Rodney sailed for North America in the early autumn, he despatched ten sail of the line under Rear-Admiral Joshua Rowley to reinforce Vice-Admiral Sir Peter...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 1, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Isis v Rotterdam – 31 December 1780 With the navy stretched to the limit in Europe and the Americas, there soon arose a shortage of trained seamen to man the ships of the fleet, and one officer who would suffer from the deficit in crew numbers and quality...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 29, 2017 | 1780, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Vestal, Henry Laurens, and the Dutch Treaty – 10 September 1780 Throughout 1780 the Netherlands had been wavering over whether to join the League of Armed Neutrality, which had been formed by Russia, Sweden and Denmark in February to protect their...
