Battle of Lagos

The naval Battle of Lagos between Britain and France took place over two days, on 18 and 19 August 1759, during the Seven Years' War off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and is named after Lagos, Portugal. For the British, it was part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.

Background
The ministers of King Louis XV of France drew up plans to invade Britain in 1759, during the Seven Years' War. An army had been collected at Vannes, in the south-east of Brittany, and transports had been brought together in the landlocked waters of the Morbihan which are connected with Quiberon Bay. The scheme of the French ministers was to combine twenty-one ships of the line lying at Brest under the command of de Conflans, with twelve which were to be brought round from Toulon by de la Clue. The army was then to be carried to some point on the coast of England or Scotland by the united squadrons.

The task of blockading de la Clue at Toulon was given to Admiral Edward Boscawen, who had with him fourteen sail of the line. Boscawen reached his station on 16 May 1759. At the beginning of July want of stores and water, together with the injury inflicted on some of his vessels by a French battery, compelled him to go to Gibraltar to provision and refit. He reached the port on 4 August. On 5 August de la Clue left Toulon, and on 17 August passed the straits of Gibraltar, where he was sighted by the look-out ships of Boscawen.

Battle
The British fleet hurried out to sea, and pursued in two divisions, separated by a distance of some miles owing to the haste with which they left port. During the night of 17/18 August five of de la Clue's ships lost sight of his flagship, and steered for Cadiz. The other seven, which had been delayed for a time in the hope of rejoining their consorts, were overtaken by Boscawen and attacked in the afternoon of 18 August. One, the 74-gun Centaure, was captured after a very gallant resistance, in which the British flagship HMS Namur (1756) was severely damaged. Boscawen transferred to HMS Newark (1695).

During the night of 18/19 August, two of the French ships (Souverain and Guerrier) altered course to the west, and escaped. The remaining four fled to the north, and into Portuguese waters near Lagos, where Océan, de la Clue's flagship, and Redoutable were driven ashore and destroyed, while Téméraire and Modeste were captured.

Aftermath
De la Clue was seriously wounded, and carried ashore in Portugal. The five ships in Cadiz were blockaded by Boscawen's second-in-command, Admiral Broderick.

Although the defeat of the French squadron ruined an integral part of their scheme to invade the British Isles, the French decided to persevere with their attack. The scheme was finally put to rest in November after the French naval defeat at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.

After refitting, several of Boscawen's victorious Mediterranean ships were sent to join Admiral Hawke's fleet off Ushant, and five were with Hawke when he destroyed the Brest fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay.

A young slave named Olaudah Equiano, who would eventually become a prominent abolitionist in England, participated in the engagement on the English side. He included an account of the battle in his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.

Order of battle
Ships involved:

Britain
HMS Namur (1756) 90 (flag) Prince 90 Newark 80 Warspite 74 Culloden 74 Conqueror 70 Swiftsure 70 Edgar 64 St Albans 64 Intrepid 60 America 60 Princess Louisa 60 Jersey 60 Guernsey 50 Portland 50 There were also 14 other smaller British ships present - the 40-gun HMS Ambuscade (1746) and HMS Rainbow (1747), the 36-gun HMS Shannon (1757) and HMS Active (1758), the 32-gun HMS Thetis (1747), five 24-gun Sixth Rates HMS Lyme (1748), HMS Gibraltar (1754), HMS Glasgow (1757), HMS Sheerness (1743) and HMS Tartar's Prize, two 16-gun sloops HMS Favourite (1757) and HMS Gramont (1757) and two 8-gun fireships HMS Aetna (1756) and HMS Salamander (1757).

France
Océan 80 (flag) - Aground and burnt August 19 Téméraire 74 - Captured August 19 Modeste 64 - Captured August 19 Redoutable 74 - Aground and burnt August 19 Souverain 74 - escaped Guerrier 74 - escaped Centaure 74 - Captured August 18