Winchester College Publication Formidable | Page 4

The Battle of Quiberon Bay
O
n 14 th November 1759, Conflans’ fleet slipped out
of Brest with orders to collect the transport ships to
the south. They were sighted by the British and Hawke’s
ships gave chase, catching them on the 20th November
just as they reached Quiberon Bay on the south coast of
Brittany. 23 British ships engaged 21 French.
Formidable was stationed at the rear of the French battle
line, entrusted by Conflans to his third in command,
André du Verger. Beginning at about 2.30 PM, Formi-
dable bore the brunt of the initial attack. She turned
broadside to cover the retreat of the other ships into the
relative safety of the bay, where they would be protected
by shoals and reefs unfamiliar to the British. The surgeon
of HMS Coventry wrote that Formidable was ‘pierced
like a cullender by the number of shot she received in
the course of the action’. Two British ships, Warspite and
Resolution, battered in her starboard side and she was
finished off by a broadside from the 74-gun Torbay. The
crew of the crippled ship surrendered to the Resolution
and were taken captive.
By the time night fell, seven French ships had been lost.
Two British ships ran aground in the high seas, but none
was lost to enemy action. 2,500 French sailors were
killed. Quiberon Bay was the most decisive naval battle of
the Seven Years War and it put an end to French plans for
an invasion of Britain. Hawke was highly
commended for his skill and courage in pursuing the
French into the treacherous waters of the bay. His
funerary memorial at St Nicholas, North Stoneham in
Eastleigh, features a scene from the battle in the form of
a marble relief.
Richard Wright, The Battle of Quiberon Bay, 21 November 1759: the Day After, oil
on canvas, 1760 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich). The vessel on the far left
is Formidable, attended by a British frigate. Resolution is shown on its side in the
foreground, having run aground.
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