Action at Barfleur " This article deals in detail with the action on 19 May 1692 . For an overview of the battle , its background and aftermath , see " Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue The action at Barfleur was part of the battle of Barfleur - La Hogue during the War of the Grand Alliance . A French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville was seeking to cover an invasion of England by a French army to restore James II to the throne , but was intercepted by an Anglo - Dutch fleet under Edward Russell , 1st Earl of Orford on 19 May Old Style ( 29 May New Style ) 1692 . Background . The fleets sighted each other at first light on the morning of 19 May 1692 off " Cap Barfleur " on the Cotentin peninsula . On sighting the allied fleet , at about 6am , Tourville held a council of war with his captains ; the advice , and his own opinion , was against action ; however , Tourville felt compelled by strict orders from the king to engage . He also may have expected defections from the English fleet by captains with Jacobite sympathies , though in this he was to be disappointed . In the light south - westerly breeze the fleets slowly closed , Russell from the north east , Tourville , with the weather gage , from the south west , on a starboard tack to bring his line of battle into contact with Russell ’ s . Because of the calm conditions it was not until 11am , 5 hours after first sighting each other , that the two fleets were within range of each other . Dispositions . The French line was led by the Blue - and - White squadron , 14 ships of the line in three divisions under the flag officers Nesmond , d , Amfreville and Relingue . They were matched by the Dutch White squadron of 26 ships under Almonde , again in three divisions under van der Putte , Gilles Schey and Callenburgh . In the centre , the French White squadron ( 16 ships under Villette Mursay , Tourville and Langeron ) opposed the English Red squadron ( 27 ships under Delaval , Russell and Shovell ) . Bringing up the rear , the French Blue squadron ( 14 ships under Coetlogon , Gabaret and Pannetier ) would face the English Blue squadron ( 29 ships under Carter , Ashby and Rooke ) . Tourville re - inforced his centre , the White squadron under his own command , by bringing Coetlogon ' s division forward in order to engage Russell ’ s Red squadron with something approaching equal numbers , while he refused and extended the line of his White squadron to avoid them being turned and overwhelmed by superior numbers ; the rest of his Blue squadron he held back also to keep the advantage of the weather gage . Russell countered by holding fire as long as possible , to allow the French fleet to close ; Almonde tried to extend his line to overlap the French van , while Ashby was still some way off and trying to close . The two fleets were within range at 11am , but both with - held firing for a further 15 minutes , until the " Saint Louis " ( number 4 in the French Blue - and - White squadron ) fired on her opposite number ; at that the firing became general up and down the line . Action : Morning . 11 am to 1 pm For the next few hours Tourville ' s White and Russell ' s Red squadrons were closely engaged , and causing each other considerable damage . " Centurion " 50 ( Red 7 ) was engaged by " Ambiteux " 96 ( White 7 , Villettes flagship ) and severely damaged ; " Chester " 50 ( Red 12 ) was outgunned by " Glorieux " 64 ( White 8 ) and had to withdraw ; " Eagle " 70 ( Red 11 ) was forced to pull out of the line , with 70 dead , to repair damage , but was able to re - join after emergency repairs ; while " Grafton " 70 ( Red 18 ) suffered 80 casualties , but was able to continue . On the French side , " Soleil Royal " 104 ( White 10 , Tourville ' s flagship ) was engaged by three English ships , " Britannia " 100 , ( White 14 , Russell ' s flagship ) supported by " London " 96 ( Red 15 ) and " St Andrew " 56 ( White 13 ) ; she was severely damaged , and forced at one point out of the line ; " Perle " 52 ( White 7 ) was shot through and through , and suffered one - third of her crew as casualties . " Henri " 64 ( White 2 ) and Fort 60 ( White 1 ) were both severely damaged trying to hold the line between the White and the Blue - and - White squadrons , to prevent a gap opening ; " Henri " was battered until she could no longer fight , and only escaped capture when Villette sent boats to tow her to safety ; " Fort " ’ s crew were forced to use sweeps to pull her out of the line for respite . Action : Afternoon . 1pm At about 1pm the wind , which up to then had been south - westerly , if it blew at all , strengthened and shifted to the east . This gave the benefit of the weather gage to the allies , who immediately took advantage of it . Shovell saw a gap in the French line ahead of him , and steered towards it ; his " Royal William " 100 ( 23rd in the Red ) broke through to engage the French White from both sides . He was followed by the rest of his division , while " Kent " 70 ( Red 22 ) , and " St Albans " 50 ( Red 21 ) , who were ahead of him in the line , pulled round to follow the " William " through the breach . " Hampton Court " 70 and " Swiftsure " 70 ( the Red 19 and 20 ) , which were ahead of them again , remained to the windward of the French , and joined themselves to Russells division . Carter , with the leading Blue division , saw Shovell ' s action and followed also , giving about a dozen ships doubling the French line . In the van , the wind enabled Almonde to extend and cross the head of the French line ; Nesmond responded by turning his division into the wind also , so that over the next few hours the French Blue - and - White became at right angles to the centre ( White ) . Shovell ' s action brought Tourville ' s ships under fire from both sides ; " Soleil Royal " particularly was hard pressed until Coetlogon , with " Magnifique " 86 ( Blue 3 ) and " Prince " 56 ( blue 2 ) interposed . 3pm By 3 o ’ clock the French line was curved leeward like a fish - hook ; the Blue - and - White was turned back to the centre , with the Dutch extended around them . When " Prince " 56 ( the French Blue 2 , in Coetlogon ’ s division ) was hotly engaged on both sides , with a third across her stern , she was saved by " Monarque " 90 , Nesmondes flagship . In the centre , Coetlogon and Tourville were engaged on either side by Shovell and Russell , while Carter was matched by the French rear divisions . To the east , Ashby and Rooke were endeavouring to get into action . 4pm By 4 o ’ clock the wind had died , the sea becoming flat calm , and visibility dropping due to battle smoke . The continuous firing also tended to push the embattled ships apart , offering some respite , as both sides were becoming exhausted . In the van , Nesmonde continued to turn as Almonde continued to extend and turn the line , both sides using boats to tow the ships into position , while in the rear Ashby was also using boats to bring his Blue squadron into the fray . In the poor visibility however he was unable to see Carter , his vice - admiral , who was in the position of advantage with Shovell beyond the French line , and sorely pressed : He continued to head towards the French Blue squadron , which was north of the main action . 5pm By 5pm the centres were re - engaged ; Russell had used his boats to tow his ships back into action . The fog had lifted , cleared by a light breeze . As the wind strengthened , Tourville headed north west towards Carter , in order to fight his way out of the encirclement . Russell pursued , until the wind , unpredictable all day , died away and the mist closed in once more . Action : Evening . 6pm At around 6pm the tide began to turn ; seeking to take advantage of this , and remembering how the English had escaped after the battle of Beachy Head two years before , Tourville had his ships anchor at the end of slack water , with their sails still set . Deceived by this , Russell ' s squadron was carried away by the flood tide , until they could themselves anchor , now out of range giving the French a respite . Shovell ' s ships , uptide of the French , had also anchored , either foreseeing the French manoeuvre , or seeking respite themselves ; only " Sandwich " 90 ( Red 24 ) was unprepared , and was swept by the flood into and through the French line , being severely damaged , and suffering many casualties , including her captain . 7pm At around 7pm the wind arose again , from the southeast , allowing the English Blue squadron to join the action . Because of Ashby ’ s previous manoeuvres , Rooke ' s division was now closer to the embattled Red squadron , and joined the fray . " Neptune " 96 ( Blue 24 , Rooke ' s flagship ) , " Windsor Castle " 90 ( Blue 25 ) and " Expedition " 70 ( Blue 26 ) , were able to engage the French ships , particularly " Soleil Royal " and " Ambiteux " , increasing the damage they had already sustained . Ashby , in " Victory " 100 ( Blue 14 ) and the rest of his division joined the fray shortly after , engaging the main body for the next two hours . 8pm Shovell ' s ships were still in range of the French , but found themselves sternwards to the French bows , so only a few guns on either side could be engaged . From his position uptide , Shovell attempted to break up the French formation by sending fireships onto them with the tide ; his intent was to oblige Tourville to cut his anchor cables to escape them , leaving him to drift with the tide onto Russells guns . Four fireships were released , but the French were able to fend them off . One fireship became entangled with " Perle " , but her crew were able to cut it loose ; another , released by " Cambridge " , 70 , and aimed at " Soleil Royal " , came so close as to persuade the French flagship to cut , but she was able to re - anchor before coming within range of Russells ships . 9pm At around 9pm Shovell and Rooke decided their position was too exposed to be tenable . As the only ships between the French fleet and the open sea , and being out of contact with the rest of the allied fleet , they decided to use the last of the flood tide to sail through the French fleet and re - join the English line . French contemporary accounts present this as a mistake , as their position placed Tourville in some difficulty , but it is conceivable that if the whole French fleet swept down on them on the ebb , they would be overwhelmed . As it was , the manoeuvre was fraught with difficulty ; all their ships were exposed to close raking fire , and were cut up severely . Action : Night . 10pm By 10pm the battle was almost over . Both sides were exhausted , and the majority of the ships on both sides were damaged , many severely . Amazingly , none of the ships from either line were lost ; none were sunk or captured . Shovell had expended four of his fireships without result , and another had burned earlier after being hit by gunfire ; these could be seen burning in the night , and were noted by the captain of the " Monmouth " in his log . Both sides reported a large explosion around this time , but both thought it was a ship from the opposing fleet . Whichever ship it involved , it was not fatal , as all the ships from both lines were accounted for after the action . On the turn of the tide , and in the moonlight , Tourville ordered the French fleet to cut their anchor cables and slip away ; the allies followed on as they could .