Battle of Beachy Head ( 1690 ) The Battle of Beachy Head ( " Fr " . Battle of Bévéziers ) was a naval engagement fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years ' War . The battle was the greatest French tactical naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the war . The English and Dutch lost some 11 ships in total ( sources vary ) , whereas the French did not lose a single vessel ; but although control of the English Channel temporarily fell into French hands , Admiral Tourville failed to pursue the Allied fleet with sufficient ardour , allowing it to escape to the river Thames . Tourville was heavily criticised for not following up his victory and was relieved of his command . English admiral Torrington – who had advised against engaging the superior French fleet but had been overruled by Queen Mary and her ministers – was court - martialled for his performance during the battle . Although he was acquitted , King William dismissed him from the service . Background . King James II was campaigning in Ireland as a first step in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne following his deposition after the ' Glorious Revolution ' . In August 1689 Marshall Schomberg had been sent from England to bolster the forces loyal to King William , but his army had stalled through the winter of 1689 – 90 , suffering from sickness and desertion . As early as January 1690 it was clear to William that he would have to sail personally to Ireland , with substantial reinforcements , in order to salvage the situation . The main Allied fleet under Admiral Torrington was stationed in the English Channel ; a substantial part of the fleet was in the Mediterranean under Vice Admiral Henry Killigrew , which the Earl of Nottingham , William ' s Secretary of State and chosen naval advisor , hoped would neutralize the French Toulon squadron . Sir Cloudesley Shovell remained in the Irish Sea , but his squadron was much too small to stop the French controlling these waters if they chose to do so . However , the French decided not to use their fleet as a subsidiary to the Irish campaign ; King Louis XIV instead directed his navy against Torrington in the Channel . Although 6 , 000 French troops under the command of the Comte de Lauzun were successfully ferried across to Ireland to aid James on 17 March , the French fleet under the Comte de Tourville returned to Brest on 1 May and there remained inactive during May and June whilst the grand fleet was assembling . This French inaction had provided William with the opportunity he desired . On 21 June William embarked his forces at Chester on board 280 transports , escorted by only six men - of - war commanded by Shovell . On 24 June , unmolested by the French fleet , William landed in Carrickfergus with 15 , 000 men for his Irish campaign , much to the consternation of James ' chief lieutenant in Ireland the Earl of Tyrconnel , who later wrote " The want of a squadron of French men - of - war in St George ' s Channel has been our ruin . . . " Prelude . After evading Killigrew off Cadiz , Château - Renault ' s Toulon squadron joined Tourville ' s fleet on 21 June . Tourville , now commanding the combined Brest and Mediterranean fleets totalling 75 ships of the line and 23 fireships , sailed on 23 June into the Channel ; by 30 June , the French were off the Lizard . Torrington sailed from the Nore already convinced the French would be stronger – much of the Royal Navy had been diverted to protect their maritime commerce from privateers , and the Allied fleet now only had 56 English and Dutch ships of the line , totalling 4 , 153 guns , to Tourville ' s fleet of 4 , 600 guns . Torrington ' s fleet reached the Isle of Wight and was joined by a Dutch squadron under the command of Cornelis Evertsen . On 5 July , Torrington sighted the French fleet , calculating their strength at almost 80 ships of the line . Unable to proceed to the westward to link up with Shovell and Killigrew ( who was on his way home ) , Torrington announced his intention of retreating before the superior French fleet to the Straits of Dover , believing the loss of the ' fleet in being ' would strategically be too great . In William ' s absence , Queen Mary and her advisors – the ' Council of Nine ' – hastened to take measures for the defence of the country . Carmarthen thought that it was advisable to fight ; as did Nottingham and Admiral Russell , who were unconvinced that the French were as strong as Torrington reported , and considered that only the admiral ' s pessimism , defeatism or treachery could account for his reports . As the two fleets moved slowly up the channel ( with Torrington keeping carefully out of range ) , Russell drafted the order to fight . Countersigned by Nottingham , the orders reached the admiral on 9 July whilst he was off Beachy Head . Torrington realised that not to give battle was to be guilty of direct disobedience ; to give battle was , in his judgment , to incur serious risk of defeat . Torrington called a council of war with his flag - officers , who concluded that they had no option but to obey . Battle . The following day , 10 July , off Beachy Head near Eastbourne Torrington advanced towards the French in line of battle . He placed the Dutch white squadron with 21 ships – commanded by Cornelis Evertsen – in the van . Torrington himself was in the centre red squadron ; the rear blue squadron , commanded by Vice - Admiral Ralph Delaval , comprised both English and Dutch ships . The French Admiral divided his force into the customary three squadrons , with white and blue , white , and blue pennants respectively . Tourville , aboard the " Soleil Royal " , commanded the centre , white squadron . The blue squadron in the French van was commanded by Château - Renault ; Victor - Marie d ' Estrées commanded the rear white and blue squadron . In each fleet the squadron commanders were in the centre of their respective squadrons , and the division flag officers in the centre of their divisions . At about 08 : 00 the Allies , being to windward , ran down together in line abreast , elongated in order to cover the whole French fleet and prevent doubling at either end . The Dutch squadron bore down on the leading French squadron to engage on a parallel course , but left the leading division of Château - Renault ' s squadron unmarked . This division cut across Evertsen ' s path and , doubling on the Dutch squadron , was able to inflict heavy losses . Vice Admiral Ashby of the red squadron failed to help the Dutch , as the Marquis de Villette succeeded in tacking ahead , placing Ashby between two fires . When Torrington brought the remainder of the red squadron into action , he found difficulty in getting close enough because of the sag in the French line , and came no closer than twice gunshot range . Admiral Tourville , finding himself with few adversaries in the centre , pushed forward his own leading ships which Torrington ' s dispositions had left without opponents , further strengthening the French attack in the van . The Dutch were now opposed by the whole of Château - Renault ' s squadron , and the van and centre divisions of Tourville ' s squadron . Delaval ' s greatly outnumbered blue squadron fought a desperate battle with d ' Estrées in the rear . Evertsen in the van , however , having lost his second - in - command and many other officers , was forced to withdraw . The Dutch had maintained the unequal contest with very little assistance from the rest of the Allied fleet ; he left two Dutch ships sunk , one shattered and dismasted vessel captured , and many badly damaged . Outmatched , Torrington ended the battle late in the afternoon , taking advantage of the tide and the drop in wind ; while his ships dropped anchor , the French – who were not sufficiently alert – were carried off by the current and out of cannon range . The eight - hour battle was a complete victory for the French , but was far from decisive . When the tide changed at 21 : 00 , the Allies weighed anchor . Tourville pursued , but instead of ordering a general chase , he maintained the strict line - of - battle , reducing the speed of the fleet to that of the slower ships . Nevertheless , Torrington burnt seven more badly - damaged Dutch ships and one English ship ( the third rate 70 - gun " Anne " ) to avoid capture before gaining the refuge of the Thames ; as soon as he was in the safety of the river , he ordered all the navigation buoys removed , making any attempt to follow him too dangerous . Aftermath . The defeat of Beachy Head caused panic in England . Tourville had temporary command of the English Channel ; it seemed that the French could at the same time prevent William from returning from Ireland across the Irish Sea and land an invading army in England . Diarist John Evelyn wrote – " The whole nation now exceedingly alarmed by the French fleet braving our coast even to the very Thames mouth ; " a fear compounded by news from the Continent of French victory at the Battle of Fleurus on 1 July . To oppose the threatened invasion , 6 , 000 regular troops , together with the hastily organised militia , were prepared by the Earl of Marlborough for the country ' s defence . In the prevailing atmosphere of paranoia , no - one attributed the defeat to overwhelming odds . Nottingham accused Torrington of treachery , informing William on 13 July " In plain terms . . . Torrington deserted the Dutch so shamefully that the whole squadron had been lost if some of our ships had not rescued them . " Nottingham was anxious to shift blame , but no one disputed his interpretation . " I cannot express to you , " wrote William to the Grand Pensionary Anthonie Heinsius in the Dutch Republic , " how distressed I am at the disasters of the fleet ; I am so much the more deeply affected as I have been informed that my ships did not properly support those of the Estates , and left them in the lurch . There was , however , some good news for the Allies . The day after Beachy Head , 11 July 1690 ( N . S ) , William decisively defeated Louis ' ally , King James , at the land Battle of the Boyne in Ireland . James fled to France , but appeals to Louis for an invasion of England were not heeded . The Marquis de Seignelay , who had succeeded his father Colbert as naval minister , had not planned for an invasion and had thought no further than Beachy Head , writing to Tourville before the engagement – " . . . I shall be content if you will let me know as soon as possible after the battle your thoughts on the employment of the fleet for the rest of the campaign . " Tourville anchored off Le Havre to refit and land his sick . The French had failed to exploit their success . To the fury of Louis and Seignelay , the sum of Tourville ' s victory was the symbolic and futile burning of the English coastal town of Teignmouth in July , and he was relieved of command . The English squadrons now rallied to the main fleet . By the end of August the Allies had 90 vessels cruising the Channel – temporary French control had come to an end . Torrington , however , had been sent to the Tower of London to await a court martial at Chatham . The substance of the charge was that he had withdrawn and kept back , and had not done his utmost to damage the enemy and to assist his own and the Dutch ships . Torrington blamed the defeat on the lack of naval preparations and intelligence – he had not been informed that the Brest fleet had been reinforced with the Toulon squadron . He also contended that the Dutch had engaged too early , before they had reached the head of the French line . To the outrage and astonishment of William and his ministers – and the delight of the English seamen who , rightly or wrongly , regarded him as a political sacrifice to the Dutch – the court acquitted him . Torrington took up his seat in the House of Lords , but William refused to see him and dismissed him from the service on 12 December ( O . S ) . Torrington was temporarily replaced by a triumvirate of Sir Henry Killigrew , John Ashby and Sir Richard Haddock ; these were in turn replaced by Admiral Russell as sole commander of the English fleet . Consequences . England ' s crushing defeat by France , the dominant naval power , in naval engagements culminating in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head , became the catalyst to Britain rebuilding itself as a global power . England had no choice but to build a powerful navy ; as there were no funds available , in 1694 a private institution , the Bank of England , was set up to supply money to the King . £1 . 2m was raised in twelve days ; half of this was used to rebuild the Navy . As a side - effect , the huge industrial effort needed started to transform the economy , from iron works making nails to agriculture feeding the quadrupled strength of the Royal Navy . This helped the new United Kingdom – England and Scotland were united in 1707 – to become prosperous and powerful . Together with the power of the navy , this made Britain the dominant world power in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries while France remained the world dominant military power during this Napoleonic period , particularly on the continent .