Le Havre raid

The Le Havre raid was a two-day naval bombardment of the French port of Le Havre early in July 1759 by Royal Navy forces under Rear-Admiral George Rodney during the Seven Years' War, which succeeded in its aim of destroying many of the invasion barges being gathered there for the planned French invasion of Great Britain.^[1]

Le Havre raid
Part of the Seven Years' War
Vue generale du bombardement du Havre en 1759 par les Anglais, Joseph-Abel Couture
Date 3–5 July 1759 Location Le Havre, France 49°26′14″N 0°8′40″E Result British victory Beginning of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
George Rodney	Charles, Prince of Soubise
Strength
5 ships of the line 5 frigates 1 sloop 6 bomb ketches	8,000 12 prams 337 barges[1]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Several barges destroyed

Background

By the summer of 1759 the duc de Choiseul's invasion plans were underway, with intensive naval preparations being made in the French ports in the Atlantic and in the Channel: Brest, Le Havre, Rochefort and Toulon. Troops were assembled at a number of points, principally at Dunkirk, Saint-Omer, Ostend, Lille and Vannes.^[2] Choiseul had decided that Le Havre was to be the main base for the Prince de Soubise's strike at England, as it lay on the Seine and troop movement was far easier than any other French port.^[2]

The British had received intelligence that the French had a number of flat-bottomed boats at Le Havre for disembarking troops.^[3]

Bombardment

Admiral Rodney was detached at the beginning of July with a small squadron and sailed from Spithead on 2 July, arriving off Le Havre.

Rodney's squadron consisted of the 60-gun ship of the line HMS Achilles as flagship, four 50-gun ships, five frigates, a sloop, and six bomb ketches and anchored there, with the bomb vessels positioned in the narrow channel of the river leading to Honfleur. The next day the attack commenced on the flat-bottomed boats and supplies which had been collected there. Over 3000 shells were fired at the principal targets – the magazines, batteries and the boats, as well as into the town for fifty consecutive hours.^[3] Rodney, with some of his frigates, remained off the port for the rest of the year, and captured numerous prizes.^[4]

The bombardment did immense damage, while Rodney's fleet received little harm in return^[1] from a numerous body of French troops who came down to the shore and under the cover of entrenchments and batteries kept up an active fire upon the assailants. The town was set on fire in several places and burned with great fury while the inhabitants fled.^[3]

Aftermath

The success of the venture, however, lured the British commanders into a false sense of security, making them believe it had been a greater setback than it had. The French intended to capitalise on this, but scaled back their initial plans instead.^[5]

In summer 1759, the French Toulon fleet sailed out through the Straits of Gibraltar but was caught and defeated by a British fleet at the Battle of Lagos in August. In November of that year, the French Brest Squadron was handily defeated at the Battle of Quiberon Bay. With these two defeats combined – the invasion plans received a crippling blow.^[4]

The victory helped contribute to what became known as the Annus Mirabilis in Great Britain.

Line of battle

Ships of the line

• Achilles (60), flagship, Captain Samuel Barrington
• Chatham (50), Captain John Lockhart
• Deptford (50), Captain John Hollwell
• Isis (50), Captain Edward Wheeler
• Norwich (50), Captain George Darby

Frigates

• Brilliant (36), Captain Hyde Parker
• Juno (36), Captain Henry John Philips
• Vestal (32), Captain Samuel Hood
• Boreas (28), Captain Robert Boyle
• Unicorn (28), Captain Thomas Graves

Sloop

• Wolf (8), Commander Hugh Bromedge

Bomb ketches

• Furnace, Commander Jonathan Faulknor
• Firedrake, Commander James Orrok
• Basilisk, Commander John Clarke
• Mortar, Commander Joseph Hunt
• Carcass, Commander Charles Inglis
• Blast, Commander Thomas Willis