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BP acquired the Outer Continental Shelf lease of Keathley Canyon block 102 reference G25782 , NOAA station 42872 , on October 22 , 2003 , in Phase 2 of the Western Gulf of Mexico ( WGOM / GOM ) Sale 187 . Lower Tertiary rock formations are some of the oldest and most technically challenging offshore rock formations cu... |
Tiber was initially drilled by Transocean 's fifth @-@ generation dynamic positioned semi @-@ submersible oil rig , Deepwater Horizon , with exploratory drilling commencing around March 2009 , slightly delayed from the planned date of September 2008 . Much of the deeper gulf reserves are buried under salt accumulation... |
= = Exploration on hold = =
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Following the April 2010 destruction of the Deepwater Horizon while drilling the Macondo well , and the resulting oil spill , all appraisal activities at 33 wells under exploration in the Gulf of Mexico , including Tiber , were placed on hold . At least two rigs that might otherwise have been used for developing Tiber... |
= Glorious First of June =
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The Glorious First of June ( also known in France as the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 or Combat de Prairial ) [ Note A ] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars .
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The action was the culmination of a campaign that had criss @-@ crossed the Bay of Biscay over the previous month in which both sides had captured numerous merchant ships and minor warships and had engaged in two partial , but inconclusive , fleet actions . The British Channel Fleet under Admiral Lord Howe attempted t... |
During the battle , Howe defied naval convention by ordering his fleet to turn towards the French and for each of his vessels to rake and engage their immediate opponent . This unexpected order was not understood by all of his captains , and as a result his attack was more piecemeal than he intended . Nevertheless , h... |
The Glorious First of June demonstrated a number of the major problems inherent in the French and British navies at the start of the Revolutionary Wars . Both admirals were faced with disobedience from their captains , along with ill @-@ discipline and poor training among their shorthanded crews , and they failed to c... |
= = Background = =
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Since early 1792 France had been at war with four of its neighbours on two fronts , battling Austria and Prussia in the Austrian Netherlands , and the Austrians and Piedmontese in Italy . On 2 January 1793 , almost one year into the French Revolutionary War , republican @-@ held forts at Brest in Brittany fired on the... |
Protected from immediate invasion by the English Channel , Britain prepared for an extensive naval campaign and dispatched troops to the Netherlands for service against the French . Throughout the remainder of 1793 , the British and French navies undertook minor operations in Northern waters , the Mediterranean and th... |
The situation in Europe remained volatile into 1794 . Off Northern France , the French Atlantic Fleet had mutinied due to errors in provisions and pay . In consequence , the French Navy officer corps suffered greatly from the effects of the Reign of Terror , with many experienced sailors being executed , imprisoned or... |
= = Fleets = =
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The navies of Britain and France in 1794 were at very different stages of development . Although the British fleet was numerically superior , the French ships were larger and stronger , and carried a heavier weight of shot . The largest French ships were three @-@ decker first rates , carrying 110 or 120 guns , agains... |
= = = Royal Navy = = =
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Since the Spanish Armament of 1790 , the Royal Navy had been at sea in a state of readiness for over three years . The Navy 's dockyards under First Lord of the Admiralty Charles Middleton were all fully fitted and prepared for conflict . This was quite unlike the disasters of the American Revolutionary War ten years ... |
Unfortunately for the British , gathering sufficient manpower was difficult and never satisfactorily accomplished throughout the entire war . The shortage of seamen was such that press gangs were forced to take thousands of men with no experience on the sea , meaning that training and preparing them for naval life wou... |
Despite these difficulties , the Channel Fleet was possessed of one of the best naval commanders of the age ; its commander @-@ in @-@ chief , Richard Howe , 1st Earl Howe , had learned his trade under Sir Edward Hawke and fought at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 . In the spring of 1794 , with the French convoy 's... |
= = = French Navy = = =
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In contrast to their British counterparts , the French Navy was in a state of confusion . Although the quality of the fleet 's ships was high , the fleet hierarchy was riven by the same crises that had torn through France since the Revolution five years earlier . Consequently , the high standard of ships and ordnance ... |
The manpower problem was compounded by the supply crisis which was affecting the entire nation , with the fleet going unpaid and largely unfed for months at times . In August 1793 , these problems came to a head in the fleet off Brest , when a lack of provisions resulted in a mutiny among the regular sailors . The cre... |
The newly appointed commander of this troubled fleet was Villaret de Joyeuse ; although formerly in a junior position , he was known to possess a high degree of tactical ability ; he had trained under Admiral Pierre André de Suffren in the Indian Ocean during the American war . However , Villaret 's attempts to mould ... |
The French Atlantic fleet was even more dispersed than the British in the spring of 1794 : Rear @-@ Admiral Pierre Vanstabel had been dispatched , with five ships including two of the line , to meet the much @-@ needed French grain convoy off the American eastern seaboard . Rear @-@ Admiral Joseph @-@ Marie Nielly had... |
= = = Convoy = = =
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By early spring of 1794 , the situation in France was dire . With famine looming after the failure of the harvest and the blockade of French ports and trade , the French government was forced to look overseas for sustenance . Turning to France 's colonies in the Americas , and the agricultural bounty of the United Sta... |
The convoy had also been augmented by the United States government , in both cargo and shipping , as repayment for French financial , moral and military support during the American Revolution . In supporting the French Revolution in this way , the American government , urged especially by Ambassador Gouverneur Morris ... |
= = May 1794 = =
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The French convoy , escorted by Vanstabel , departed America from Virginia on 2 April , and Howe sailed from Portsmouth on 2 May , taking his entire fleet to both escort British convoys to the Western Approaches and intercept the French . Checking that Villaret was still in Brest , Howe spent two weeks searching the B... |
Despite Howe 's pursuit , the main French sortie found initial success , running into a Dutch convoy and taking 20 ships from it on Villaret 's first day at sea . For the next week Howe continued to follow the French , seizing and burning a trail of French @-@ held Dutch ships and enemy corvettes . On 25 May Howe spot... |
Taking the bait , the following day Howe attacked again , but his attempt to split the French fleet in half was unsuccessful when his lead ship , HMS Caesar , failed to follow orders . Much damage was done to both fleets but the action was inconclusive , and the two forces again separated without having settled the is... |
= = First of June = =
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Although Howe was in a favourable position , Villaret had not been idle during the night . He had attempted , with near success , to distance his ships from the British fleet ; when dawn broke at 05 : 00 he was within a few hours of gaining enough wind to escape over the horizon . Allowing his men to breakfast , Howe ... |
It was normal in fleet actions of the 18th century for the two lines of battle to pass one another sedately , exchanging fire at long ranges and then wearing away , often without either side losing a ship or taking an enemy . In contrast , Howe was counting on the professionalism of his captains and crews combined wit... |
= = British break the line = =
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Within minutes of issuing the signal and turning his flagship HMS Queen Charlotte , Howe 's plan began to falter . Many of the British captains had either misunderstood or ignored the signal and were hanging back in the original line . Other ships were still struggling with damage from Howe 's earlier engagements and ... |
= = = Van squadron = = =
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Although Queen Charlotte pressed on all sail , she was not the first through the enemy line . That distinction belonged to a ship of the van squadron under Admiral Graves : HMS Defence under Captain James Gambier , a notoriously dour officer nicknamed " Dismal Jimmy " by his contemporaries . Defence , the seventh ship... |
In front of Marlborough the rest of the van had mixed success . HMS Bellerophon and HMS Leviathan were both still suffering the effects of their exertions earlier in the week and did not breach the enemy line . Instead they pulled along the near side of Éole and America respectively and brought them to close gunnery d... |
More disturbing to Lord Howe were the actions of HMS Russell and HMS Caesar . Russell 's captain John Willett Payne was criticised at the time for failing to get to grips with the enemy more closely and allowing her opponent Téméraire to badly damage her rigging in the early stages , although later commentators blamed... |
= = = Centre = = =
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The centre of the two fleets was divided by two separate squadrons of the British line : the forward division under admirals Benjamin Caldwell and George Bowyer and the rear under Lord Howe . While Howe in Queen Charlotte was engaging the French closely , his subordinates in the forward division were less active . Ins... |
Howe and Queen Charlotte led the fleet by example , sailing directly at the French flagship Montagne . Passing between Montagne and the next in line Vengeur du Peuple , Queen Charlotte raked both and hauled up close to Montagne to engage in a close @-@ range artillery battle . As she did so , Queen Charlotte also beca... |
To the right of Queen Charlotte , HMS Brunswick had initially struggled to join the action . Labouring behind the flagship , her captain John Harvey received a rebuke from Howe for the delay . Spurred by this signal , Harvey pushed his ship forward and almost outstripped Queen Charlotte , blocking her view of the east... |
Behind this combat , other ships of the centre division struck the French line , HMS Valiant under Thomas Pringle passing close to Patriote which pulled away , her crew suffering from contagion and unable to take their ship into battle . Valiant instead turned her attention on Achille , which had already been raked by... |
= = = Rear = = =
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Of the British rear ships , only two made a determined effort to break the French line . Admiral Hood 's flagship HMS Royal George pierced it between Républicain and Sans Pareil , engaging both closely , while HMS Glory came through the line behind Sans Pareil and threw herself into the melee as well . The rest of the... |
Three other British ships failed to respond to the signal from Howe , including HMS Alfred which engaged the French line at extreme range without noticeable effect , and Captain Charles Cotton in HMS Majestic who likewise did little until the action was decided , at which point he took the surrender of several already... |
= = Melee = =
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Within an hour of their opening volleys the British and French lines were hopelessly confused , with three separate engagements being fought within sight of one another . In the van , Caesar had finally attempted to join the fight , only to have a vital spar shot away by Trajan which caused her to slip down the two em... |
Russell had not broken the French line and her opponent Témeraire got the better of her , knocking away a topmast and escaping to windward with Trajan and Eole . Russell then fired on several passing French ships before joining Leviathan in attacking the centre of the French line . Russell 's boats also took the surre... |
Behind Royal Sovereign was Marlborough , inextricably tangled with Impétueux . Badly damaged and on the verge of surrender , Impétueux was briefly reprieved when Mucius appeared through the smoke and collided with both ships . The three entangled ships continued exchanging fire for some time , all suffering heavy casu... |
Dismasted , Defence was unable to hold any of her various opponents to a protracted duel , and by 13 : 00 was threatened by the damaged Républicain moving from the east . Although Républicain later hauled off to join Villaret to the north , Gambier requested support for his ship from the fleet 's frigates and was aide... |
The conflict between Queen Charlotte and Montagne was oddly one @-@ sided , the French flagship failing to make use of her lower @-@ deck guns and consequently suffering extensive damage and casualties . Queen Charlotte in her turn was damaged by fire from nearby ships and was therefore unable to follow when Montagne ... |
To the east , Orion and Queen forced the surrender of both Northumberland and Jemmappes , although Queen was unable to secure Jemmappes and she had to be abandoned later . Queen especially was badly damaged and unable to make the British lines again , wallowing between the newly reformed French fleet and the British b... |
= = French recovery = =
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Villaret in Montagne , having successfully broken contact with the British flagship and slipped away to the north , managed to gather 11 ships of the line around him and formed them up in a reconstituted battle squadron . At 11 : 30 , with the main action drawing to a close , he began a recovery manoeuvre intended to ... |
In fact , the British fleet was unable to pursue Villaret , having only 11 ships still capable of battle to the French 12 , and having numerous dismasted ships and prizes to protect . Retiring and regrouping , the British crews set about making hasty repairs and securing their prizes ; seven in total , including the b... |
Having escaped to the east , Villaret made what sail his battered fleet could muster to return to France , and dispatched his frigates in search of the convoy . Villaret was also hoping for reinforcements ; eight ships of the line , commanded by Admiral Pierre @-@ François Cornic , were patrolling near the Ushant head... |
Casualties in the battle are notoriously hard to calculate exactly . With only one exception ( Scipion ) , records made by the French captains of their losses at the time are incomplete . The only immediately available casualty counts are the sketchy reports of Saint @-@ André and the records made by British officers ... |
= = The convoy arrives = =
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With a large portion of his fleet no longer battleworthy , Howe was unable to resume his search for the French convoy in the Bay of Biscay . The Admiralty , though unaware of Howe 's specific circumstances , knew a battle had taken place through the arrival of HMS Audacious in Portsmouth , and was preparing a second e... |
Howe benefited from Montagu 's withdrawal , as his own battered fleet passed close to the scene of this stand @-@ off on 10 June , pushing north into the English Channel . With Villaret and Cornic fortuitously pursuing Montagu to the south , Howe was free to pass Ushant without difficulty and arrived off Plymouth on 1... |
= = Aftermath = =
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