page_title: Battle of Lagos
section_title: At sea
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Lagos / Battle / At sea
caption_attribution_description: A detail from the painting English: Battle of Lagos: HMS Namur
context_page_description: The naval Battle of Lagos took place between a British fleet commanded by Sir Edward Boscawen and a French fleet under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran over two days in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. They fought south west of the Gulf of Cádiz on 18 August and to the east of the small Portuguese port of Lagos, after which the battle is named, on 19 August.
  La Clue was attempting to evade Boscawen and bring the French Mediterranean Fleet into the Atlantic, avoiding battle if possible; he was then under orders to sail for the West Indies. Boscawen was under orders to prevent a French breakout into the Atlantic, and to pursue and fight the French if they did. During the evening of 17 August the French fleet successfully passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, but was sighted by a British ship shortly after it entered the Atlantic. The British fleet was in nearby Gibraltar, undergoing a major refit. It left port amidst great confusion, most ships not having their refurbishments completed, with many delayed and sailing in a second squadron. Aware that he was pursued, La Clue altered his plan and changed course; half his ships failed to follow him in the dark, but the British did.
context_section_description: Eight of the fifteen ships in the French fleet continued on to Cádiz. It is not clear if this was because they did not observe the flagship's change of course, because they did not understand its implications, or because they felt their freshly opened orders took precedence. At dawn on 18 August La Clue could see only six other ships. He ordered them to rally on the flagship and heave to and await the anticipated appearance of the rest of the fleet. At about 6:00 am a group of large ships came into view and La Clue remained stationary, believing them to be the missing component of his fleet. It was only when the topsails of the nine ships of the second British squadron, the stragglers under Brodrick, were sighted farther back that it was realised all these ships were British.
  The seven French ships sailed at the speed of their slowest member, the Souverain. Boscawen ordered his ships to maintain formation, to avoid his fastest ships reaching and engaging the French squadron individually and being defeated in detail. The British ships proved to be faster, and were slightly favoured by variable winds, allowing them to gradually overhaul the French by the afternoon of 18 August. Boscawen repeatedly signalled to his ships to "Make more speed". Several of the British ships were hampered by their newly warped sails splitting, or their newly fitted spars breaking loose, as they were overstrained by crews eager to catch the French. At 1:00 pm the French ships hoisted their battle ensigns and opened fire at long range. Ships of the line had most of their guns mounted in their sides, to allow them to fire broadsides, but had a small number of lighter guns mounted in their sterns, able to fire to their rears. It was not possible to effectively fire ahead of such ships. The French were thus able to fire at the British as they grew closer, while the British were unable to offer much reply. The French attempted to disable the British ships' sails and rigging, but with little effect.
  At 2:30 pm the British Culloden engaged the rearmost French ship, the Centaure; they were evenly matched, each being equipped with 74 heavy guns, 37 on each side. By this time the French had formed a line ahead formation, with their flagship in the centre. Boscawen claimed he wished his leading, and therefore his fastest, ships to engage the first French ships they encountered; then, as the next British ship arrived, bypass this fight to attack the next French ship in line. Any bypassed French ships could, he believed, be safely left to Brodrick's squadron. However, only his own flagship adopted this approach, and only four of the seven French ships were engaged. Centaure was attacked by five British ships, fighting on for five hours and seriously delaying the British pursuit before surrendering after being battered into a wreck and having more than a third of her crew killed or wounded.
  Meanwhile, Boscawen had pressed on in his 90-gun flagship, determined to engage the largest ship in the French fleet, La Clue's flagship, the 80-gun Océan. Namur passed three French ships, receiving a broadside from each; Boscawen ordered that there be no return fire, instead having his crew lie down, to minimise casualties. By 4:00 pm Namur was close enough to Océan to open fire and a short, sharp fight developed. Océan had nearly 200 men killed or wounded, with La Clue among the latter; while Namur had one of her three masts shot away, together with the topsail yards of both remaining masts. With Namur unable to manoeuvre, Océan, also badly damaged, fled. Boscawen transferred his flag to Newark.
  As the sun set, the six surviving French ships continued to flee to the north west, with those British ships not slowed by battle damage close behind them. There was sufficient moonlight to allow the British ships to keep in touch, although the two fastest French ships, Souverain and Guerrier, slipped away into the Atlantic during the night. The naval historian Nicholas Tracey suggests La Clue sailed an incorrect course, failed to weather Cape St. Vincent, and became trapped agai
caption: The British flagship, HMS Namur
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