Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June ( also known as the Third Battle of Ushant , and in France as the ' or ' ) 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 . The British Channel Fleet under Admiral Lord Howe attempted to prevent the passage of a vital French convoy from the United States , which was protected by the French Atlantic Fleet , commanded by Rear - Admiral Villaret - Joyeuse . The two forces clashed in the Atlantic Ocean , some west of the French island of Ushant on 1 June 1794 . 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 . 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 , his ships inflicted a severe tactical defeat on the French fleet . In the aftermath of the battle both fleets were left shattered and in no condition for further combat , Howe and Villaret returning to their home ports . Despite losing seven of his ships of the line , Villaret had bought enough time for the French grain convoy to reach safety unimpeded by Howe ' s fleet , securing a strategic success . However , he was also forced to withdraw his battle - fleet to port , leaving the British free to conduct a campaign of blockade for the remainder of the war . In the immediate aftermath both sides claimed victory and the outcome of the battle was seized upon by the press of both nations as a demonstration of the prowess and bravery of their respective navies . 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 and ill - discipline and poor training among their crews . During the height of the combat they both failed to control their fleets effectively , their ships suffering further from a shortage of crewmen and reliable officers . In Britain the conduct of a number of officers was subsequently called into question and one even faced a court martial for his conduct , leaving a lasting legacy of bitterness in the Royal Navy . Background . 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 British brig HMS " Childers " . A few weeks later , following the execution of the imprisoned King Louis XVI , diplomatic ties between Britain and France were broken . On 1 February France declared war on both Britain and the Dutch Republic . 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 the West and East Indies , where both nations maintained colonies . The closest the Channel Fleet had come to an engagement was when it had narrowly missed intercepting the French convoy from the Caribbean , escorted by 15 ships of the line on 2 August . The only major clash was the Siege of Toulon , a confused and bloody affair in which the British force holding the town — alongside Spanish , Sardinian , Austrian and French Royalist troops — had to be evacuated by the Royal Navy to prevent its imminent defeat at the hands of the French Republican army . The aftermath of this siege was punctuated by recriminations and accusations of cowardice and betrayal among the allies , eventually resulting in Spain switching allegiance with the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso two years later . Nevertheless , the siege produced one major success : Sir Sidney Smith , with parties of sailors from the retreating British fleet , accomplished the destruction of substantial French naval stores and shipping in Toulon . More might have been achieved had the Spanish raiding parties that accompanied Smith not been issued with secret orders to stall the destruction of the French fleet . 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 dismissed from the service for perceived disloyalty . The shortage of provisions was more than a navy problem though ; France itself was starving because the social upheavals of the previous year had combined with a harsh winter to ruin the harvest . By this time at war with all her neighbours , France had nowhere to turn for overland imports of fresh provisions . Eventually a solution to the food crisis was agreed by the National Convention : food produced in France ' s overseas colonies would be concentrated on board a fleet of merchant ships gathered in Chesapeake Bay , and augmented with food and goods purchased from the United States . During April and May 1794 , the merchantmen would convoy the supplies across the Atlantic to Brest , protected by elements of the French Atlantic Fleet . Fleets . 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 even 120 guns , compared with 100 guns on the largest British vessels . Royal Navy . Since the Spanish Armament of 1790 , the Royal Navy had been at sea in a state of readiness for over three years . Due to extensive preparations under First Lord of the Admiralty Charles Middleton , the Navy ' s dockyards were all fully fitted and prepared for conflict , lessons having been learnt from the disasters of the American Revolutionary War ten years earlier . Then , an ill - prepared Royal Navy had taken too long to reach full effectiveness . As a result the Navy had been unable to support the North American campaign , which ended in defeat at the Battle of Yorktown due to lack of supplies . With British dockyards now readily turning out cannon , shot , sails , provisions and other essential equipment , the only remaining problem was that of manning the several hundred ships on the Navy list . Gathering sufficient manpower proved problematic , and was never satisfactorily accomplished throughout the entire war . The shortage of seamen was such that the press gangs were forced to take thousands of men with no experience of the sea , and whose training and preparation for naval life would take quite some time . The lack of Royal Marines was even more urgent , and soldiers from the British Army were drafted into the fleet for service at sea . Men of the Queen ' s Royal Regiment and the 29th Regiment of Foot served aboard Royal Navy ships during the campaign ; their descendant regiments still maintain the battle honour " 1 June 1794 " . 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 arrival in European waters imminent , Howe had dispersed his fleet in three groups . George Montagu , in HMS " Hector " , was sent with six ships of the line and two frigates to guard British convoys to the East Indies , West Indies and Newfoundland as far as Cape Finisterre . Peter Rainier , in HMS " Suffolk and commanding six other ships , was to escort the convoys for the rest of their passage . The third force consisted of 26 ships of the line , with several supporting vessels , under Howe ' s direct command . They were to patrol the Bay of Biscay for the arriving French . French Navy . 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 was not matched by that of the available crews , which were largely untrained and inexperienced . With The Terror resulting in the death or dismissal of many senior French sailors and officers , political appointees and conscripts – many of whom had never been to sea at all , let alone in a fighting vessel – filled the Atlantic fleet . 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 crews overruled their officers and brought their ships into harbour in search of food , leaving the French coast undefended . The National Convention responded instantly by executing a swathe of senior officers and ship ' s non - commissioned officers . Hundreds more officers and sailors were imprisoned , banished or dismissed from naval service . The effect of this purge was devastating , seriously degrading the fighting ability of the fleet by removing at a stroke many of its most capable personnel . In their places were promoted junior officers , merchant captains and even civilians who expressed sufficient revolutionary zeal , although few of them knew how to fight or control a battle fleet at sea . 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 Suffren in the Indian Ocean during the American war . However , Villaret ' s attempts to mould his new officer corps into an effective fighting unit were hampered by another new appointee , a deputy of the National Convention named Jean - Bon Saint - André . Saint - André ' s job was to report directly to the National Convention on the revolutionary ardour of both the fleet and its admiral . He frequently intervened in strategic planning and tactical operations . Shortly after his arrival , Saint - André proposed issuing a decree ordering that any officer deemed to have shown insufficient zeal in defending his ship in action should be put to death on his return to France , although this highly controversial legislation does not appear to have ever been acted upon . Although his interference was a source of frustration for Villaret , Saint - André ' s dispatches to Paris were published regularly in " Le Moniteur " , and did much to popularise the Navy in France . 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 sailed from Rochefort with five ships of the line and assorted cruising warships to rendezvous with the convoy in the mid - Atlantic . This left Villaret with 25 ships of the line at Brest , to meet the threat posed by the British fleet under Lord Howe . Convoy . 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 States , the National Convention gave orders for the formation of a large convoy of sailing vessels to gather at Hampton Roads in the Chesapeake Bay , where Admiral Vanstabel would wait for them . According to contemporary historian William James this conglomeration of ships was said to be over 350 strong , although he disputes this figure , citing the number as 117 ( in addition to the French warships ) . 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 , was fulfilling its ten - year - old debt to France . Friendly relations between the United States and France did not long survive the Jay Treaty which came into effect in 1796 ; by 1798 the two nations would be engaged in the Quasi War . May 1794 . 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 Bay of Biscay for the grain convoy , returning to Brest on 18 May to discover that Villaret had sailed the previous day . Returning to sea in search of his opponent , Howe pursued Villaret deep into the Atlantic . Also at sea during this period were the squadrons of Nielly ( French ) and Montagu ( British ) , both of whom had met with some success ; Nielly had captured a number of British merchant ships and Montagu had taken several back . Nielly was the first to encounter the grain convoy , deep in the Atlantic in the second week of May . He took it under escort as it moved closer to Europe , while Montagu was searching fruitlessly to the south . 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 spotted a straggler from Villaret ' s fleet and gave chase ; " Audacieux " led Howe straight to his opponent ' s location . Having finally found Villaret , on 28 May Howe attacked , using a flying squadron of his fastest ships to cut off its rearmost vessel " Révolutionnaire " . This first rate was at various times engaged with six British ships and took heavy damage , possibly striking her colours late in the action . As darkness fell the British and French fleets separated , leaving " Révolutionnaire " and her final enemy , HMS " Audacious " , still locked in combat behind them . These two ships parted company during the night and eventually returned to their respective home ports . By this stage Villaret knew through his patrolling frigates that the grain convoy was close , and deliberately took his fleet to the west , hoping to decoy Howe away from the vital convoy . 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 issue . Howe had however gained an important advantage during the engagement by seizing the weather gage , enabling him to further attack Villaret at a time of his choosing . Three French ships were sent back to port with damage , but these losses were offset by reinforcements gained the following day with the arrival of Nielly ' s detached squadron . Battle was postponed during the next two days because of thick fog , but when the haze lifted on 1 June 1794 , the battle lines were only 6 miles ( 10 km ) apart and Howe was prepared to force a decisive action . First of June . 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 took full advantage of his position on the weather gage to close with Villaret , and by 08 : 12 the British fleet was just four miles ( 6 km ) from the enemy . By this time , Howe ' s formation was strung out in an organised line parallel to the French , with frigate s acting as repeaters for the admiral ' s commands . The French were likewise in line ahead and the two lines began exchanging long - range gunfire at 09 : 24 , whereupon Howe unleashed his innovative battleplan . 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 with the advantage of the weather gage to attack the French directly , driving through their line . However , this time he did not plan to manoeuvre in the way he had during the two previous encounters ; each ship following in the wake of that in front to create a new line arrowing through his opponent ' s force ( as Rodney had done at the Battle of the Saintes 12 years earlier ) . Instead , Howe ordered each of his ships to turn individually towards the French line , intending to breach it at every point and rake the French ships at both bow and stern . The British captains would then pull up on the leeward side of their opposite numbers , cutting them off from their retreat downwind , and engage them directly , hopefully forcing each to surrender and consequently destroying the French Atlantic Fleet . British break the line . 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 could not get into action fast enough . The result was a ragged formation tipped by " Queen Charlotte " that headed unevenly for Villaret ' s fleet . The French responded by firing on the British ships as they approached , but the lack of training and coordination in the French fleet was obvious ; many ships which did obey Howe ' s order and attacked the French directly arrived in action without significant damage . Van squadron . 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 of the British line , successfully cut the French line between its sixth and seventh ships ; " Mucius " and " Tourville " . Raking both opponents , " Defence " soon found herself in difficulty due to the failure of those ships behind her to properly follow up . This left her vulnerable to " Mucius " , " Tourville " and the ships following them , with which she began a furious fusillade . However , " Defence " was not the only ship of the van to break the French line ; minutes later George Cranfield - Berkeley in HMS " Marlborough " executed Howe ' s manoeuvre perfectly , raking and then entangling his ship with " Impétueux " . 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 duels . Rear - Admiral Thomas Pasley of " Bellerophon " was an early casualty , losing a leg in the opening exchanges . HMS " Royal Sovereign " , Graves ' s flagship , was less successful due to a miscalculation of distance that resulted in her pulling up too far from the French line and coming under heavy fire from her opponent " Terrible " . In the time it took to engage " Terrible " more closely , " Royal Sovereign " suffered a severe pounding and Admiral Graves was badly wounded . 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 damage received on 29 May for her poor start to the action . There were no such excuses , however , for Captain Anthony Molloy of " Caesar " , who totally failed in his duty to engage the enemy . Molloy completely ignored Howe ' s signal and continued ahead as if the British battleline was following him rather than engaging the French fleet directly . " Caesar " did participate in a desultory exchange of fire with the leading French ship " Trajan " but her fire had little effect , while " Trajan " inflicted much damage to " Caesar ' s " rigging and was subsequently able to attack " Bellerophon " as well , roaming unchecked through the melee developing at the head of the line . Centre . 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 . Instead of moving in on their opposite numbers directly , the forward division sedately closed with the French in line ahead formation , engaging in a long distance duel which did not prevent their opponents from harassing the embattled " Defence " just ahead of them . Of all the ships in this squadron only HMS " Invincible " , under Thomas Pakenham , ranged close to the French lines . " Invincible " was badly damaged by her lone charge but managed to engage the larger " Juste " . HMS " Barfleur " under Bowyer did later enter the action , but Bowyer was not present , having lost a leg in the opening exchanges . 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 became briefly entangled with " Jacobin " , and exchanged fire with her too , causing serious damage to both French ships . 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 eastern half of the French fleet for a time and taking severe damage from French fire as she did so . Harvey hoped to run aboard " Jacobin " and support his admiral directly , but was not fast enough to reach her and so attempted to cut between " Achille " and " Vengeur du Peuple " . This manoeuvre failed when " Brunswick ' s " anchors became entangled in " Vengeur ' s " rigging . Harvey ' s master asked if " Vengeur " should be cut loose , to which Harvey replied " No ; we have got her and we will keep her " . The two ships swung so close to each other that " Brunswick ' s " crew could not open their gunports and had to fire through the closed lids , the ships battering each other from a distance of just a few feet . 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 " Queen Charlotte " and " Brunswick " , and badly damaged her before pressing on sail to join the embattled van division . HMS " Orion " under John Thomas Duckworth and HMS " Queen " under Admiral Alan Gardner both attacked the same ship , " Queen " suffering severely from the earlier actions in which her masts were badly damaged and her captain John Hutt mortally wounded . Both ships bore down on the French " Northumberland " , which was soon dismasted and left attempting to escape on only the stump of a mast . " Queen " was too slow to engage " Northumberland " as closely as " Orion " , and soon fell in with " Jemmappes " , both ships battering each other severely . Rear . 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 British and French rearguard did not participate in this close combat ; HMS " Montagu " fought a long range gunnery duel with " Neptune " which damaged neither ship severely , although the British captain James Montagu was killed in the opening exchanges , command devolving on Lieutenant Ross Donnelly . Next in line , HMS " Ramillies " ignored her opponent completely and sailed west , Captain Henry Harvey seeking " Brunswick " , his brother ' s ship , in the confused action around " Queen Charlotte " . 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 shattered French ships . Finally HMS " Thunderer " under Albemarle Bertie took no part in the initial action at all , standing well away from the British line and failing to engage the enemy despite the signal for close engagement hanging limply from her mainmast . The French rear ships were no less idle , with " Entreprenant " and " Pelletier " firing at any British ships in range but refusing to close or participate in the melees on either side . The French rear ship " Scipion " did not attempt to join the action either , but could not avoid becoming embroiled in the group around " Royal George " and " Républicain " and suffered severe damage . Melee . 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 embattled fleets without contributing significantly to the battle . " Bellerophon " and " Leviathan " were in the thick of the action , the outnumbered " Bellerophon " taking serious damage to her rigging . This left her unable to manoeuvre and in danger from her opponents , of which " Eole " also suffered severely . Captain William Johnstone Hope sought to extract his ship from her perilous position and called up support ; the frigate HMS " Latona " under Captain Edward Thornbrough arrived to provide assistance . Thornbrough brought his small ship between the ships of the French battleline and opened fire on " Eole " , helping to drive off three ships of the line and then towing " Bellerophon " to safety . " Leviathan " , under Lord Hugh Seymour , had been more successful than " Bellerophon " , her gunnery dismasting " America " despite receiving fire from " Eole " and " Trajan " in passing . " Leviathan " only left " America " after a two - hour duel , sailing at 11 : 50 to join " Queen Charlotte " in the centre . " 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 surrender of " America " , her crew boarding the vessel to make her a prize ( although later replaced by men from " Royal Sovereign " ) . " Royal Sovereign " lost Admiral Graves to a serious wound and lost her opponent as well , as " Terrible " fell out of the line to windward and joined a growing collection of French ships forming a new line on the far side of the action . Villaret was leading this line in his flagship " Montagne " , which had escaped from " Queen Charlotte " , and it was " Montagne " which " Royal Sovereign " engaged next , pursuing her close to the new French line accompanied by " Valiant " , and beginning a long - range action . 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 casualties with " Marlborough " and " Impétueux " losing all three of their masts . This combat continued for several hours . Captain Berkeley of " Marlborough " had to retire below with serious wounds , and command fell to Lieutenant John Monkton , who signalled for help from the frigates in reserve . Robert Stopford responded in HMS " Aquilon " , which had the assignment of repeating signals , and towed " Marlborough " out of the line as " Mucius " freed herself and made for the regrouped French fleet to the north . " Impétueux " was in too damaged a state to move at all , and was soon seized by sailors from HMS " Russell " . 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 aided by HMS " Phaeton " under Captain William Bentinck . As " Impétueux " passed she fired on " Phaeton " , to which Bentinck responded with several broadsides of his own . " Invincible " , the only ship of the forward division of the British centre to engage the enemy closely , became embroiled in the confusion surrounding " Queen Charlotte " . " Invincible ' s " guns drove " Juste " onto the broadside of " Queen Charlotte " , where she was forced to surrender to Lieutenant Henry Blackwood in a boat from " Invincible " . Among the other ships of the division there were only minor casualties , although HMS " Impregnable " lost several yards and was only brought back into line by the quick reactions of two junior officers , Lieutenant Robert Otway and Midshipman Charles Dashwood . 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 " set her remaining sails and slipped to the north to create a new focal point for the survivors of the French fleet . " Queen Charlotte " also took fire during the engagement from HMS " Gibraltar " , under Thomas Mackenzie , which had failed to close with the enemy and instead fired at random into the smoke bank surrounding the flagship . Captain Sir Andrew Snape Douglas was seriously wounded by this fire . Following " Montagne " ' s escape , " Queen Charlotte " engaged " Jacobin " and " Républicain " as they passed , and was successful in forcing the surrender of " Juste " . To the east of " Queen Charlotte " , " Brunswick " and " Vengeur du Peuple " continued their bitter combat , locked together and firing main broadsides from point blank range . Captain Harvey of " Brunswick " was mortally wounded early in this action by langrage fire from " Vengeur " , but refused to quit the deck , ordering more fire into his opponent . " Brunswick " also managed to drive " Achille " off from her far side when the French ship attempted to intervene . " Achille " , already damaged , was totally dismasted in the exchange and briefly surrendered , although her crew rescinded this when it became clear " Brunswick " was in no position to take possession . With her colours rehoisted , " Achille " then made what sail she could in an attempt to join Villaret to the north . It was not until 12 : 45 that the shattered " Vengeur " and " Brunswick " pulled apart , both largely dismasted and very battered . " Brunswick " was only able to return to the British side of the line after being supported by " Ramillies " , while " Vengeur " was unable to move at all . " Ramillies " took " Vengeur ' s " surrender after a brief cannonade but was unable to board her and instead pursued the fleeing " Achille " , which soon surrendered as well . 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 battleline along with several other shattered ships . " Royal George " and " Glory " had between them disabled " Scipion " and " Sans Pareil " in a bitter exchange , but were also too badly damaged themselves to take possession . All four ships were among those left drifting in the gap between the fleets . French recovery . 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 lessen the tactical defeat his fleet had suffered . Aiming his new squadron at the battered " Queen " , Villaret ' s attack created consternation in the British fleet , which was unprepared for a second engagement . However , discerning Villaret ' s intention , Howe also pulled his ships together to create a new force . His reformed squadron consisted of " Queen Charlotte " , " Royal Sovereign " , " Valiant " , " Leviathan " , " Barfleur " and " Thunderer " . Howe deployed this squadron in defence of " Queen " , and the two short lines engaged one another at a distance before Villaret abandoned his manoeuvre and hauled off to collect several of his own dismasted ships that were endeavouring to escape British pursuit . Villaret was subsequently joined by the battered " Terrible " , which sailed straight through the dispersed British fleet to reach the French lines , and he also recovered the dismasted " Scipion " , " Mucius " , " Jemmappes " and " Républicain " — all of which lay within reach of the unengaged British ships – before turning eastwards towards France . At this stage of the battle , the septuagenarian Howe retired below and the British consolidation was left to his Captain of the Fleet , Sir Roger Curtis . Curtis was subsequently blamed by some in the Navy for not capturing more of the dismasted French ships , and was also accused of dissuading Howe from attempting further pursuit . 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 badly damaged " Vengeur du Peuple " . " Vengeur " had been holed by cannon firing from " Brunswick " directly through the ship ' s bottom , and after her surrender no British ship had managed to get men aboard . This left " Vengeur " ' s few remaining unwounded crew to attempt to salvage what they could — a task made harder when some of her sailors broke into the spirit room and became drunk . Ultimately the ship ' s pumps became unmanageable , and " Vengeur " began to sink . Only the timely arrival of boats from the undamaged " Alfred " and HMS " Culloden " , as well as the services of the cutter HMS " Rattler " , saved any of the " Vengeur ' s " crew from drowning , these ships taking off nearly 500 sailors between them . Lieutenant John Winne of " Rattler " was especially commended for this hazardous work . By 18 : 15 , " Vengeur " was clearly beyond salvage and only the very worst of the wounded , the dead and the drunk remained aboard . Several sailors are said to have waved the tricolour from the bow of the ship and cried " Vive la Nation , vive la République ! " 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 headland . Behind him to the west , the British took the whole night to secure their ships and prizes , not setting out to return to Britain until 05 : 00 on 2 June . Casualties in the battle are notoriously hard to calculate exactly . With only one exception aboard " 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 aboard the captured ships , neither of which can be treated as completely reliable . Most sources accept that French casualties in the campaign numbered approximately 7 , 000 , including around 3 , 000 captured , but these figures are vague and frequently do not agree with each other on details . British casualties are easier to confirm but here too there are some discrepancies ; overall British casualties are generally given as around 1 , 200 . The convoy arrives . 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 expedition under George Montagu . Montagu had returned to England after his unsuccessful May cruise , and was refitting in Portsmouth when ordered to sea again . His force of ten ships was intended to both cover Howe ' s withdrawal from Biscay , and find and attack the French grain convoy . Montagu returned to sea on 3 June , and by 8 June was off Ushant searching for signs of either the French or Howe ; unknown to him , neither had yet entered European waters . At 15 : 30 on 8 June Montagu spotted sails , and soon identified them as the enemy . He had located Cornic ' s squadron , which was also patrolling for the convoy and the returning fleets . Montagu gave chase and drove Cornic into Bertheaume Bay , where he blockaded the French squadron overnight , hoping to bring them to action the following day . However , on 9 June , Montagu sighted 19 French ships appearing from the west — the remnants of Villaret ' s fleet . Hastily turning his ships , Montagu sailed south to avoid becoming trapped between two forces which might easily overwhelm him . Villaret and Cornic gave chase for a day before turning east towards the safety of the French ports . 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 12 June , joined soon afterwards by Montagu . Villaret had anchored with Cornic in Bertheaume Bay the day before , but Saint - André refused to allow him to enter Brest until the republican attitudes of the town ' s population had been assessed . On 12 June , the convoy from America finally arrived off France , having lost just one ship in passage during a storm . Aftermath . Both Britain and France claimed victory in the battle : Britain by virtue of capturing or sinking seven French ships without losing any of her own and remaining in control of the battle site ; France because the vital convoy had passed through the Atlantic unharmed and arrived in France without significant loss . The two fleets were showered by their respective nations with both praise and criticism – the latter particularly directed at those captains not felt to have contributed significantly to the fighting . The British fleet in Spithead was treated with a Royal visit by King George III and the entire royal household . France . In France the revolutionary principles of " " precluded extensive awards , but Villaret was promoted to vice - admiral on 27 September 1794 and other minor awards were distributed to the admirals of the fleet . In addition the fleet ' s officers took part in a celebratory parade from Brest to Paris , accompanying the recently arrived food supplies . The role of " Vengeur du Peuple " was mythified by Bertrand Barrère , giving birth to an exalted legend . Opinion in France concerning the battle ' s outcome was divided ; while many celebrated Saint - André ' s exaggerated accounts of victory in " Le Moniteur " , senior naval officers disagreed . Among the dissenters was the highly experienced but recently dismissed Admiral Kerguelen . Kerguelen was disgusted by Villaret ' s failure to renew the battle after he had reformed his squadron , and felt that the French fleet could have been successful tactically as well as strategically if only Villaret had made greater efforts to engage the remains of Howe ' s fleet . The French Navy had suffered its worst losses in a single day since the Battle of La Hogue in 1692 . Ultimately the revolutionary excesses of the period would prove disastrous for the French Navy . Poor leadership , conflicting and arbitrary orders and the decimation of the experienced seamen in the ranks promoted a negative attitude in the French officer corps . The French battlefleet did not contest British dominance in Northern European waters again , and their raiding operations repeatedly ended in failure at the hands of more confident British squadrons and the unforgiving Atlantic weather . By 1805 , when the last great French fleet to take to the sea was crushed at the Battle of Trafalgar , poor training and low investment in the Navy had reduced its efficiency to levels unthinkable 20 years earlier . Britain . In Britain , numerous honours were bestowed on the fleet and its commanders . Admiral Howe , already an earl , refused any further elevation , and King George III was dissuaded from making him a Knight of the Garter by one of Howe ' s political opponents . Vice - Admiral Graves was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Graves , while Vice - Admiral Hood was made Viscount Bridport . Rear - Admirals Bowyer , Gardner , Pasley and Curtis ( the last - named was promoted from captain on 4 July 1794 ) were all made baronets , and Bowyer and Pasley also received pensions of £1 , 000 a year to compensate them for their severe wounds . All first lieutenants were promoted to commander and numerous other officers were promoted in consequence of their actions . The thanks of parliament were unanimously passed to all who fought at the action and various other gifts and awards were distributed among the fleet . A memorial to Captains John Hutt and John Harvey , both of whom had died of their wounds on 30 June , was raised in Westminster Abbey . There was , however , a bitter consequence of the awards , rooted in Howe ' s official dispatch to the Admiralty concerning the battle , which according to some accounts was actually written by Curtis . Howe had appended a list to his report containing the names of officers whom he believed merited special reward for their part in the battle . The list included Vice - Admirals Graves and Hood , Rear - Admirals Bowyer , Gardner and Pasley , Captains Seymour , Pakenham , Cranfield - Berkeley , Gambier , John Harvey , Payne , Henry Harvey , Pringle , Duckworth , Elphinstone , Nichols and Hope . Also mentioned were Lieutenants Monkton and Donnelly . The list had omitted a number of officers who had served in the battle , and the justice of their omission was a highly controversial issue in the Navy . Rear - Admiral Caldwell was the sole British flag officer present not to receive a hereditary honour , although he was promoted to Vice - Admiral on 4 July ( as were Bowyer and Gardner ) . After studying the ship ' s logs and reports of the battle , the Admiralty minted a medal to be awarded to the living captains on the list only ( although Captain William Parker of HMS " Audacious " was awarded one as well ) . The captains excluded from the list were furious , and the furore from this selective commendation lasted years : in 1795 Vice - Admiral Caldwell quit the service in anger as a result , while Cuthbert Collingwood , flag captain of " Barfleur " , refused all awards for future service until the Glorious First of June medal was presented to him as well . He eventually received it after the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797 . Over five decades later the battle was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal , awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847 . Bitterest of all was the whispering campaign directed at Anthony Molloy , captain of HMS " Caesar " . Molloy was accused of cowardice by fellow officers for his failure to follow Howe ' s orders on both 29 May and 1 June . Requesting an official court - martial to clear his name , Molloy ' s legal bid failed , and although his personal courage was not called into question , his professional ability was . Molloy was dismissed from his ship , a punishment which effectively fired him from the Navy . Of the captured ships , several were purchased and enjoyed long careers in the Royal Navy , in particular the two 80 - gun ships HMS " Sans Pareil " which was decommissioned in 1802 but not broken up until 1842 , and HMS " Juste " , which was a popular command until her decommissioning in 1802 at the Peace of Amiens . Of the four 74 - gun prizes , " Achille " and " Northumberland " ( both 74s built in the late 1770s ) were broken up as unserviceable soon after arrival in Britain , while " Impétueux " was destroyed in a dockyard fire on 24 August 1794 while undergoing repairs . " America " , the final prize , was taken into the Royal Navy as HMS " America " but renamed HMS " Impetueux " in July 1795 and remained in service until 1813 . The combined prize money for these ships was £201 , 096 ( the equivalent of £ as of 2018 ) , divided among the ships under Lord Howe ' s command .