Britannia Rule the Waves!

Year 1759 became known in Britain as “annus mirabilis”, the year of miracle. The miracle itself was man made, achieved by the British navy on this date! Britannia Rule the Waves! Fighting between the British and the French had been ongoing since 1754, and war was officially declared in 1756 when French went to war against their old ally, Prussia, now allied with Great Britain and Hanover. For the British, the Seven Years War main effort was in the colonies, but the French focus was continental. As the war went on, the British used their naval superiority, capturing Louisbourg and raiding the French coast in 1758. This was a disgrace to the French, and to turn the tide, French foreign minister Duc de Choiseul created a grand plan to knock the British out of the war by invading the British Isles themselves, with a force of no less than 100.000 soldiers! The French navy was to overcome or at least outmaneuver their British counterpart, after which the amphibious force would be landed. It was believed, that the small British army in their homelands would be easily defeated. Duc de Choiseul, french minister, and Sir Edward Hawke, commander of the British fleet in battle of Quiberon Bay. Invading Britain was no new concept in itself. The previous French attempt in 1744, during the War of Austrian Succession, had to be abandoned when a violent storm hit the invasion fleet that sailed out of Dunkirk. And the Spanish attempt in 1588 with the ill-fated Spanish Armada was also still in fresh memory. Thanks to effective network of spies, the British were aware of these French plans, countering them with a militia act among other things, bolstering the small army in Britain with large numbers of militia. But the decisive action would take place in the high sea, between the fleets of the two superpowers. Here the British so far had the upper hand, blockading French fleets in harbors and watching their every move. The first major encounter was in the Battle of Lagos in August 1759, when French Toulon fleet in the Mediterranean slipped through British blockade and sailed out through the Straits of Gibraltar. But the fleet was engaged and defeated by British fleet under Sir Edward Boscawen. The French lost 5 out of 12 ships-of-the-line in the fleet, the rest escaped. This setback prevented the original invasion plans, but still Choiseul was determined to invade at least Scotland. Battle of Lagos was a French defeat, but Choiseul still would not give up the invasion plans. The main blow came November 20th 1759, in the Battle of Quiberon Bay. The French fleet blockaded in Brest was ordered to move out and collect transports assembled in Gulf of Morbihan. The British blockading fleet under Sir Edward Hawke spotted the French slipping away exploiting favorable weather conditions. Hawke ordered pursuit. Hawke had part of his fleet watching the transports at Quiberon Bay, under Robert Duff. The arriving French fleet under Comte de Conflans spotted them and gave pursuit. Duff managed to evade. The French fleet lost cohesion during the pursuit, and as they turned back, they were engaged by Hawke and the main body of the fleet. In the battle that followed the French fleet lost 7 out of 21 ships-of-the-line, a third of the fleet. After the battle, French naval power was broken and the planned invasion had to be abandoned for good. The battle of Quiberon Bay also meant the French navy was