Action of 8 June 1755 The Action of 8 June 1755 was a naval battle between France and Great Britain early in the French and Indian War . The British captured the third - rate French ships " Alcide " and " Lys " off Cape Race , Newfoundland in the Gulf of St . Lawrence . The battle contributed to the eventual war declarations that in 1756 formally began the Seven Years ' War . Background . In 1754 , French and British colonial forces clashed in 1754 , first in the Battle of Jumonville Glen , and then in the Battle of Fort Necessity , over control of the upper Ohio River valley , near present - day Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . When word of these conflicts reached London , government leaders decided to send regular army troops to occupy the site on which the French had constructed Fort Duquesne . Word of the British military planning leaked to France , where convoys of troops were also rushed into readiness for service in North America . The Royal Navy , aware of the French plans , dispatched Vice Admiral Edward Boscawen and a fleet of eleven ships of the line to the Gulf of St . Lawrence to intercept French shipping headed for Quebec City . Boscawen patrolled along the southern shore of Newfoundland . Three weeks later , a second fleet of seven ships was despatched under Admiral Holbourne to intercept French shipping . The French fleet , under the command of Admiral Dubois de la Motte , for the most part managed to avoid these British forces . Many of its ships landed at Louisbourg , and some successfully eluded Boscawen ' s fleet to reach Quebec . However , three ships became separated from the rest of the fleet in fog , and encountered some of Boscawen ' s ships . Battle . HMS " Dunkirk " , HMS " Defiance " and HMS " Torbay " caught sight of the " Dauphin Royal " , " Alcide " , and " Lys " under the command of Toussaint Hocquart . The " Lys " was sailing " en flûte " , and had been reduced to 22 cannons because it was carrying soldiers of the Régiment de la Reine and the Languedoc regiment ; eight companies in all . The " Alcide " had 64 guns and these ships soon fell in with the British ships . Hocquart of the " Alcide " called out to the commander of the " Dunkirk " Richard Howe , " Are we at war , or at peace ? " to which the English replied , " At peace , at peace . " After a brief discussion , the Royal Navy ships opened fire on the three French ships . The " Alcide " being better armed than the other two French ships , returned fire and fought bravely for five hours . However after sustaining much damage it surrendered along with the " Lys " . The " Dauphin Royal " escaped in the fog to tell the tale . Aftermath . After this action and further harassment of French shipping by British naval forces , the two countries declared war on each other in the spring of 1756 . The prisoners of this battle , most of them French land troops intended for service in New France , were held at Georges Island in Halifax Harbour and were treated as prisoners of war . On board the ships Alcide and Lys were found to contain 10 , 000 scalping knives for Acadians and Indians under Mik Mak Chief Cope and Acadian Beausoleil as they continued to fight Father Le Loutre ' s War . Hocquart became Boscawen ' s prisoner for the third time ; he had been captured by him in a frigate action back in 1744 . He was then captured again in the First Battle of Cape Finisterre ( 1747 ) before finally being captured in the " Alcide " .