It was the location of a failed British attack on Rochefort in 1757 during the Seven Years' War, of an attack by HMS "Unicorn" and HMS "St Fiorenzo" on a Spanish squadron on 2 July 1799, and of the final surrender of Napoleon Bonaparte on HMS "Bellerophon" on 15 July 1815. It was also the site of the British naval victory over a French fleet at the 1809 Battle of Basque Roads.