After 1778, the primary objective in the war was maintaining control over the sugar-rich West Indian archipelago The lucrative sugar trade in the Caribbean was reckoned at the time as being of more importance to British interests than the 13 colonies. The sugar trade was paying for the costs of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and the Anglo-French War (1778–1783). The Royal Navy's newly coppered ships as yet untested were used successfully by Rodney in defeating the French at the Battle of the Saintes off Dominica in February 1782.