Battle of Lagos
A British squadron destroyed a French fleet off the Portuguese coast in August 1759, chasing it into neutral waters to do it. France had planned an invasion of Britain that year, and the plan required the Mediterranean fleet at Toulon to join the Atlantic fleet at Brest. La Clue-Sabran got twelve ships of the line through the Straits of Gibraltar on a dark night in August, and was seen by a British frigate. Boscawen's squadron was at Gibraltar refitting, with sails down and ships careened; it went to sea within hours, some vessels sailing with rigging incomplete, and caught the French off Cape St Vincent the following afternoon. The action ran into the night. The Centaure fought a rearguard action for five hours against several ships and was taken, five French vessels escaped southward in the dark, and La Clue ran the remaining four aground in Lagos Bay in Portuguese territorial waters, expecting neutrality to protect him. Boscawen went in after them, burned two and captured two, and Portugal protested and was compensated later. The invasion plan then rested entirely on Brest, and Hawke destroyed that fleet at Quiberon Bay in November in a gale among rocks. The two battles together ended any French naval threat for the rest of the Seven Years' War and left the French colonies without reinforcement or supply. The year produced so many British victories — Minden, Quebec, Lagos, Quiberon — that it was called the year of miracles. Boscawen's pursuit into neutral waters is the part that lawyers still cite. The doctrine that a belligerent may not be attacked in a neutral port was already accepted, and the Royal Navy's practice for the following century was to apologise afterwards.
- Year: 1759 CE
- Category: Military
