Battle of Cape Finisterre

=== Information ===
Lead by British Royal Navy Admiral George Anson, The First Battle of Cape Finisterre was a military conflict between the British and French Navy off the Coast of Northern Spain. France needed to keep shipping lanes open in order to maintain their overseas empire. In the end, France assembled their merchantmen into convoys that were protected by warships. The second battle was led by Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hawke and Royal Navy Commander, Thomas McWard.
=== First Battle ===
HMS Centurion, was the first to engage with the French fleet, which she successfully and heavily attacked. Two other ships dropped astern to her support. The action became general when three more British ships, including HMS Devonshire arrived. The French, though much inferior in numbers, fought till seven in the evening, when all but two of their ships were taken, as well as nine East India merchantmen. As a result, The French lost 700 men, and the British 520. The Battle lasted about five hours. As a result, the Battles of Cape Finisterre put an end to French naval operations for the rest of the war. Following his victory, Anson was highly praised by the people of England.
=== Second Battle/New Commander ===
The Second Battle of Cape Finisterre took place in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, roughly halfway between Ireland and Cape Finisterre in northwest Spain. It was led by British Rear-Admiral, Edward Hawke and Admiral Henri-Francois des Herbiers on the axis side. It resulted in a decisive British victory that has been described as "the most brilliant naval action of the war." It put an end to French naval operations for the remainder of the war, thus eliminating any threat of an invasion of Britain and threatening the very existence of France's empire overseas. 
Hawke thought he was up against a much larger fleet of warships, and formed a line of battle; when the French responded in kind Hawke realised that he was faced by inferior numbers that could be progressively enveloped by a "swarm" of ships. This action allowed the British to make up for their inferior individual firepower by concentrating their fire on one ship at a time as Anson had done back in May, rather than sticking to a line of battle. At first the French mistook the British ships for members of the convoy; on realising their mistake the French hoped to use their warships to just divert the British for long enough that the merchants had a chance to escape into the vastness of the Atlantic. Hawke approached from leeward while the French sailed close-hauled in a line ahead of them, hoping he would engage in a long-range artillery duel. Instead, Hawke decided to make the signal for a general chase, freeing his captains from the constraints of a formal battle. The British overhauled the French line and enveloped it from rear to van, resulting in capturing six ships. The Comte de Vaudreuil in Intrépide, first in the French line, turned back to help his admiral, allowing both ships to escape. The French lost 4000 men, which would prove as devastating as the loss for the French Navy. The merchants escaped under the protection of the Content 64 and Castor 26, and continued across the Atlantic Ocean. However, most of them were intercepted and captured in the West Indies by Commodore George Pocock in the winter of 1747-48. 
After a few months of leave in England, a new Lieutenant-Commander, Thomas McWard was ordered to Spain to help aid Admiral of the British Fleet, George Anson at Cape Finisterre. In early May 1747, McWard was given command of the HMS Centurion and ordered to follow Ships of the line HMS Duke commanded by Anson and HMS Devonshire led by Admiral Peter Warren. McWard's ship was one of the first British ships of the line to engage in combat with the French Fleet. McWard successfully defeated half of the French fleet until two other British ships appeared to support him. The battle lasted around 5 hours and as a result, the French lost around 700 men and the British 520. 
After the British victory at Cape Finisterre, the British fleet patrolled the Spanish waters for four more months. In late October of 1747, British received word that another French fleet was approaching the Cape. Admiral Edward Hawke was given command of the British fleet after Warren had fallen ill. He gave McWard the command of the sloop HMS Weazel. On October 25th, 1747 the French violently attacked the British fleet. McWard and his crew raced the Weazel toward Hawke's ship, and made a surprise attack on the French by repeatedly circling around them using explosive ammunition saving Hawke life along with the rest of the crew. In the end, the second battle of Cape Finisterre resulted in another British victory. As a result of McWards heroic military actions, Hawke promoted McWard to the Navy rank of Captain.
=== Aftermath ===
The Disaster of the Second Battle made the French Government their helplessness at sea and to make the decision to not fight the convoys through the British blockade. The battle resulted in most of the French colonies to suffer starvation particularly in the West Indies. As a result to solve this issue, King Louis the XV of France decided to give the Netherlands back to England in exchange for normality in the French colonies. 
Category:Battles