Second Battle of Cape Finisterre
The second battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval encounter fought during the War of the Austrian Succession on 25 October 1747 (N.S.). A British fleet of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke intercepted a French convoy of 250 merchant ships, sailing from the Basque Roads in western France to the West Indies and protected by eight ships of the line commanded by Vice Admiral Henri-François des Herbiers.
French battleship Intrépide fighting several British ships, by Pierre-Julien Gilbert
Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke
Henri-François des Herbiers
Three of the six French vessels captured during the battle: Terrible, Neptune and Severn
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke,, of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Saxton with Scarthingwell, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate HMS Berwick, he took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. He also captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747.
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
The Battle of Toulon (1744), where Hawke first saw action.
The Second Battle of Cape Finisterre (1747) at which Hawke captured six ships of a French squadron: the French ship Intrepid battling against several British ships by Pierre-Julien Gilbert.
Lord Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty from 1751. While the relationship between the two men was often strained, they had a mutual respect for each other.
