Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- PLATES, CHARTS AND PLANS
- PREFACE
- METHOD OF DATING
- Chapter I Means and Ways: The Instrument
- Chapter II Ways and Means: The Use of the Instrument
- Chapter III Mediterranean Outline: Cadiz to Port Mahon
- Chapter IV The French Squadronal Attack on the Trade in the Channel Soundings, 1704
- Chapter V Barcelona, 1705
- CHAPTER VI Toulon, 1707
- CHAPTER VII Cruisers and Convoys in 1707
- CHAPTER VIII “The Alarm from Dunkirk”, 1708
- A Particulars of Typical Ships of Queen Anne's Navy
- B State of Her Majesty's Ships in Commission
- C Confederate Ships of the Line at Home and in the Mediterranean 1702 to 1710
- D State of the French Navy
- E Admiral Fairborne's Proposal for the Main Fleet in 1703
- F The Cruisers and Convoys Act, 1708
- Notes
- Index
- Plate section
Chapter IV - The French Squadronal Attack on the Trade in the Channel Soundings, 1704
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- PLATES, CHARTS AND PLANS
- PREFACE
- METHOD OF DATING
- Chapter I Means and Ways: The Instrument
- Chapter II Ways and Means: The Use of the Instrument
- Chapter III Mediterranean Outline: Cadiz to Port Mahon
- Chapter IV The French Squadronal Attack on the Trade in the Channel Soundings, 1704
- Chapter V Barcelona, 1705
- CHAPTER VI Toulon, 1707
- CHAPTER VII Cruisers and Convoys in 1707
- CHAPTER VIII “The Alarm from Dunkirk”, 1708
- A Particulars of Typical Ships of Queen Anne's Navy
- B State of Her Majesty's Ships in Commission
- C Confederate Ships of the Line at Home and in the Mediterranean 1702 to 1710
- D State of the French Navy
- E Admiral Fairborne's Proposal for the Main Fleet in 1703
- F The Cruisers and Convoys Act, 1708
- Notes
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
The departure and arrival of the ocean-going shipping in the mouth of the Channel gave the French cruisers their best opportunities for injuring the English trade, despite the cover afforded by the English cruisers. As a rule the convoys were a match for the French in the North Sea and in the Sleeve of the Channel, though they might pick up stragglers and coasting vessels. In the Soundings on the other hand, while the outward-bound fleets were generally too strong for even squadronal attack, there was always the chance that wind or fog might scatter the fleets coming home from distant parts, and there were always the running ships. Twice during the war the regular squadron of cruisers belonging to Dunkirk left its usual stations to work in this fruitful area, either independently or in conjunction with the Brest squadron, and privateers from the ports in Flanders often cruised there as well as those from the Channel and Biscay ports.
The success of the French attack, both by squadrons of ships of force and by Royal ships or privateers working on their own, naturally varied according to the number of cruisers the English Government spared from other services. In the first two years of the war, England being strong in home waters, only privateers and small frigates attacked the trade in the Soundings.
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- War at Sea Under Queen Anne 1702–1708 , pp. 101 - 128Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010