British Admirals of the Eighteenth Century

Tactics in Battle

John Creswell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040337691
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

British Admirals of the Eighteenth Century (1972) examines the problems of eighteenth-century naval warfare, and differs in two important respects from orthodox opinions. It shows that the belief that the fighting instructions of the eighteenth century were Admiralty orders which cramped the initiative of admirals has been disproved by documentary evidence; and it argues that a study of the most important sea battles of the period indicates that the view that tactics at sea should always be based on principles which had been accepted as axiomatic in land warfare appears to have been misguided. The book examines the tactical problems which faced some of the greatest admirals of the time and analyses how they dealt with them.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• Illustration
• 1 Origins of the Line of Battle
• 2 Tactics at the Opening of the Eighteenth Century
• 3 Hoste’s Naval Evolutions
• 4 The Battles of Malaga and Toulon
• 5 The Beginning of Additional Instructions and the Two Battles Of Finisterre
• 6 Byng at Minorca
• 7 Quiberon Bay
• 8 The Battle of Ushant, 1778
• 9 Byron and D'Estaing at Grenada
• 10 Rodney and de Guichen, 17 April 1780
• 11 The Battle of Chesapeake, 5 September 1781
• 12 The Battle of the Saints, April 1782
• 13 Reform of the Signal Books
• 14 Clerk of Eldin
• 15 The Glorious First Of June
• 16 The Battle of Cape St Vincent
• 17 Trafalgar
• 18 Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index