Battle of the Holy ones
The battles of Holy the was held April 9th with the April 12th 1782, during the Guerre of independence of the United States, between the English fleet directed by George Rodney and the French fleet directed by the Count de Grasse. The English fleet left there victorious. The confrontation was baptized name of the Saintes, a group of islands located between the Guadeloupe and the Dominique in the the Antilles.
Preliminaries of the battle
France had already some West-Indian islands and wished to invade the Jamaica, then English colony.
The April 7th 1782, the Count of Grasse leaves the Martinique with 35 linerships, including 2 armed with 50 guns, and a large convoy of more than 100 ships of transport, with the meeting of the Spanish fleet made up of 12 ship of the lines and transporting 15.000 soldiers, in order to conquer the Jamaica. It is continued by the English fleet made up of 36 vessels and ordered by the admirals George Brydges Rodney and Samuel Hood which catches up with them the evening even thanks to the speed of their ships whose hull was covered panels of copper which prevents the marine flora from being fixed at it.
The April 9th, of Fatty orders with the convoy to take refuge in Guadeloupe and makes put its ships in battle order to cover their retirement. The two fleets was then under the wind of the island of the Dominique. First of all, 8 ships of the English avant-garde engaged 15 French buildings. When the large one of the English fleet approached the zone of the engagements, the French ships broke the contact to cover the retirement of the convoy. During the two days which followed, the two units faced without fighting to repair the damage of the first confrontation.
Course of the battle
April 12th, Rodney attacked the 30 French ships with its 36 buildings. With a weak wind of east-north-east, the two fleets aligned out of two files began the combat while going to the meeting one of the other according to the tactics of the Ligne of battle. The French could not benefit from their pace to the wind because they were taken out of clipper between the English fleet and the east coast of the Dominique. Towards 9:20, the wind turned to south-east what obliged the French who drew a broadside towards the south to be let off-set with Tribord towards the file of British buildings. Some French buildings tried to transfer edge what broke the battle order. The English having from now on the wind in poop benefitted from it and Rodney on its Flagship the Formidable HMS , followed of five others, engaged in a breach between the French. Behind him, Hood made in the same way and stopped the French line right in front of the flagship ' of the Count de Grasse.
In this position, the English could make fire of each of the two sides and on short distance, their guns (of the Caronade S) were particularly effective. By doing this, Rodney and Hood however gave up the side with the wind with the French and were not any more able to prevent them from fleeing. However the wind fell and left the broken down ships. The afternoon, when a light east wind rose, the French fleet was entirely dislocated. Of Fatty ordered a general fold but this one was not done in the order. The English captured four French ships and attacked the ' which was insulated. Of Fatty went with its flagship and let his fleet flee. The César , captured by the English, exploded.
Conclusion
The remainder of the French fleet joined the fleet of invasion close to the French Cape. Although it was made up of a total of 40 ship of the lines, the invasion of Jamaica did not take place: the loss of the commander-in-chief and the diseases among the crews were the cause of the abandonment of the company.
In September 1782, a British convoy escorting two captured French vessels (the Town of Paris and the Glorious ) left towards England. During a storm, these two last disappeared body and goods. The British ship of the lines Ramillies and Centaur sank.
It elucidated forever if Rodney cut the French lines by tactic or if it is not rather the wind which induced the operation. The question of knowing why the French ships were not continued also remains unanswered. Later, the Grasse Count returned his captains Vaudreuil and Bougainville responsible for the defeat.
This was the last naval battle delivered in American water during this war. In 1783, England, Spain and France signed a peace treaty which delimited the borders between the islands of the British colonies, Spanish and Frenchwomen of the the Antilles. This Battaille of Holy the at sea marked a turning in the tactics of the engagements.
| Random links: | List mayors of Strasbourg | Saint-Zénon | Cándido Fabré | Giovanni Ier Cornaro | Polonaise (music) | Livre_des_êtres_imaginaires |