Book published by Pen and Sword in 2010, 240 pages. Hardback with Dust Jacket (N4626)
Brand New Book
From the front inside fly leaf: Revered naval theorist, Alfred Thayer Mahan, thought the Battle of Quiberon Bay (that occured on the 20th November 1759, during the Seven Years War) was as significant as Nelson's victory at Trafalgar in 1805. Arguably it was even more vital. Britain in 1759 was much less well-defended, with virtually no regular troops at home, and the threat of French invasion was both more realistic and more imminent. When the British fleet under Admiral Hawke fell upon them, the French ships of the line under Admiral Conflans were actually on their way to rendezvous with the invasion troopships gathered at the mouth of the Loire. Yet the battle and the admiral remain relatively obscure - there is no Quiberon Square or Hawke's column...
The battle itself was fought in terrible weather, the French attempting to exploit their local knowledge by heading for Quiberon Bay, assuming the British would not follow them among its treacherous shoals in such conditions. Hawke, however, pursued them under full sail and the French ships were destroyed, captured, run aground or scattered for the loss of only two British ships which ran aground. The invasion was thwarted.
| Condition | New |