Battle at The Lizard

Not to be confused with Battle off Lizard Point.
Battle at the Lizard
Part of the War of the Spanish Succession

Battle at The Lizard (1707), by Jean Antoine Théodore de Gudin.
Date 21 October 1707
Location Lizard Point, Cornwall
near
Result French victory
Belligerents
 Great Britain  France
Commanders and leaders
Richard Edwards René Duguay-Trouin
Claude de Forbin
Strength
5 warships
80-130 merchant ships		 13 warships
Casualties and losses
1 warship destroyed, 3 captured
Approx. 15 merchant ships captured
1,000+ dead		 No ships lost

Flemish and Rhine campaigns
Friedlingen – Kehl – Ekeren – Höchstädt – Speyerbach – Schellenberg – Blenheim – Elixheim – Ramillies – Stollhofen – Oudenarde – Beachy Head – Lizard Point – Wijnendale – Lille – Malplaquet – Bouchain – Denain
Italian campaigns
Carpi – Chiari – Cremona – Luzzara – Cassano – Nice – Calcinato – Turin – Castiglione – Toulon – Gaeta – Cesana – Campo Maior – Syracuse
Spanish and Portuguese campaigns

Cádiz – Vigo Bay – Cap de la Roque – Gibraltar – Ceuta – Málaga – Cabrita Point – Montjuïc – 1st Barcelona – Badajoz – 2nd Barcelona – Santa Cruz de Tenerife – Almansa – Xàtiva – Ciudad Rodrigo – Tortosa – Minorca – La Gudina – Almenar – Saragossa – Brihuega – Villaviciosa – 3rd Barcelona

The naval Battle at the Lizard (French: Combat du Cap Lézard) took place on 21 October 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession near Lizard Point, Cornwall between two French squadrons under René Duguay-Trouin and Claude de Forbin and an English convoy protected by a squadron under Commodore Richard Edwards.[1]

Duguay-Trouin and Forbin were two of the most successful French naval commanders and they had caused much damage to the allied merchant fleet.

Contents

The battle

On 20 October 1707 a large merchant fleet consisting of 80 to 130 English ships left Plymouth for Portugal with supplies for the war in Spain. There were five escorting English ships under command of Commodore Edwards.

The next day near Lizard Point they were spotted by 2 French squadrons of 6 ships each. Technically Forbin was the senior French officer, but Duguay-Trouin was the more aggressive, and his ships led the attack and suffered most of the damage, after Forbin's had discovered the British convoy.

This battle was almost a complete victory for the French; Cumberland, Chester and Ruby were taken, but Royal Oak escaped into Kinsale with a few merchantmen. Devonshire defended herself for several hours against seven French ships until she caught fire and blew up, only two men escaping out of 900.

Ships involved:

Britain (Richard Edwards)

80 to 130 merchant ships

Notes

  1. ^ Allen p.103

There is no unanimity on the number of merchant ships captured. French sources speak of 60 ships out of 80, some British of none at all. The fact that René Duguay-Trouin and Claude de Forbin quarrelled for many years about which of the two squadrons had the biggest role in the victory, points to a considerable number of ships captured. Probably the truth is somewhere in between: Polak in "Bibliographie maritime française" speaks of 15 merchant ships captured.

References

Allen, Joseph. Battles of the British Navy: from A.D. 1000 to 1840. Bell & Daldy publishing (1872) ASIN: B00087UD9S

External links