Gillingwater's History of Lowestoft / a reprint: with a chapter of more recent events

by Edmund Gillingwater

King William had no sooner ascended the throne of this kingdom than he found himself obliged to engage in war with France, who had sent James II over into Ireland with a considerable force, escorted by a fleet of twenty-two sail of men-of-war.

His Majesty’s affairs in England were at this time in so critical a state, that it was some time before he could provide a force sufficient to cruise on the coast of Ireland. At last Admiral Herbert, who commanded the English fleet, in the begining of April, 1689, sailed for Cork, with a squadron which consisted of no more than twelve ships of war (one of which was the Defiance, Captain Ashby) one fireship, two yachts, and two smacks. On the 29th of that month he discovered a fleet of forty-four sail, a convoy that followed King James; on the 30th, he saw them standing into Bantree bay; he lay off that place till morning, and about break of day resolved to attack the enemy. The French detached their merchant ships to land the supply at a place down the bay while they engaged the enemy. The English fleet was reinforced to nineteen ships. The French fleet consisted in the whole of twenty-eight ships. As the English had the wind, they could have avoided fighting if they pleased; but the Admiral exerted his utmost efforts to get into the bay, and come to a close engagement. About ten in the morning, on the 1st of May, the French bore down upon the English, when the battle began. The fight was pretty warm for two hours, but then slackened, because a great part of the English fleet could not come up, but they continued firing on both sides till about five in the afternoon. Admiral Herbert had no opportunity of bringing his whole fleet to engage, as the wind would not suffer him to enter the bay, and consequently was under the necessity of keeping out at sea all the time of the engagement, therefore the dispute was very unequal; but about the hour before-mentioned, the French fleet stood in the bay, which put an end to the fight.

This is the battle of Bantree bay, which, though inconsiderable of itself, [155] is yet magnified by some writers as a very important stroke. The French had one ship, called the Diamond, set on fire, and two others so much damaged as to withdraw from the line. The affair, however, was certainly of no very great consequence; and the small advantage that was claimed by the French was more to be ascribed to a favourable wind and superior force, than either a want of courage or conduct on the part of the English. After the action Admiral Herbert bore away for the Scilly Islands, and having cruized there for some time returned to Spithead; on which occasion the King himself went down to Portsmouth, where, to shew his determination to distinguish and reward merit, though not pointed out to him by success, he declared Admiral Herbert Earl of Torrington, and knighted Captain John Ashby and Captain Cloudesley Shovel; giving, at the same time, a bounty of ten shillings to each seaman, and making a provision for the widows of such as had been killed in the action. Sir John Ashby was also presented with a gold watch, set with diamonds.

The French were so elated with the small advantage gained in Bantree bay, as to boast, that the next summer they would insult the joint fleets of England and Holland; therefore, both the honour and safety of the kingdom depended upon taking such measures as might disconcert their designs. In consequence of this necessity, a resolution was formed of assembling early in the Spring a large fleet in the Channel; especially as that part of the nation in the interest of King James where almost everywhere in motion, and waiting, in all appearance, for nothing but the sight of a French fleet, on the coast, to take up arms and declare against Government; but it was so late before the Dutch sent their fleet to sea, and the English fleet was desirous of forming a junction with the Dutch before they put themselves in a condition of sailing that it considerably retarded the operations. But the conduct of the French was very different; for on the 12th of June they put to sea with their grand fleet, consisting of seventy-eight men of war, and twenty-two fire ships, the whole fleet carrying upwards of 4,700 pieces of canon. On the 13th of June they steered for the English coast, and on the 20th appeared off the Lizard.

Our Admiral, Lord Torrington, who was then at St. Helen’s received this intelligence with the utmost surprise; and he was so far from expecting the arrival of the French fleet on the English coast that he had not sent out any scouts to the westward for information. However, he put to sea with such ships as he had on the 24th of June, and gave orders that all the English and Dutch ships which could have notice should follow him. The next morning he found himself within sight of the enemy, and the fleets continued looking on each other for several days. It is certain that the Earl of Torrington did not think himself strong enough to venture an engagement, and in all probability the rest of the Admirals were of the same opinion. In this fleet Sir John Ashby was Vice-Admiral of the Blue.

The whole strength of the English and Dutch fleets together, consisted only of fifty-six ships; his Lordship therefore, seeing that he was outnumbered by above twenty sail, was not willing to risk his own honour and the safety of the nation upon such unequal terms, but the Queen, who was then Regent, sent him orders to fight at all events, in order to oblige the French to withdraw from the English coast. In obedience to this order, his Lordship, on the 20th of June, as soon as it was daylight, gave the signal for drawing into a line of battle, and bore down upon the enemy. The signal for battle was thrown out at about eight o’clock, and the engagement began about nine. The Dutch squadron, which formed the van of the united fleets, fell in with the van of the French, and threw them into disorder. About half-an-hour after Admiral Russell, and Admiral Ashby with the Blue squadron, engaged the rear of the French very warmly; but the Red Squadron, which formed the centre of the fleet, and was commanded by the Earl of Torrington, did not come up till about ten; and this occasioned a great opening between the Blue squadron in the rear and the Dutch in the van, which the French taking an advantage of, caused the Dutch to suffer very much.

In the night the Earl retired to the eastward, with the French pursuing him as far as Rye; from thence he retreated towards the river Thames, where, on going ashore, he left the command of the fleet to Sir John Ashby. The French were as much censured for not taking every advantage which this victory afforded them, as the Earl was blamed for the defeat; for the French retired to their own coasts, and after the beginning of August were no more seen in the English Channel.

The Earl of Torrington, as soon as he came to London, was examined before the Council, before whom he vindicated his conduct with great presence of mind. He assigned two reasons for his behaviour in this important transaction: the first was, the ill-grounded contempt the English and Dutch officers had of the abilities of the French fleet at sea; the second was, that he had acted to the best of his knowledge in saving the fleet, and that he had much rather his reputation should suffer for a time, than his country should sustain a loss which it might never be able to recover; but the Council were so far dissatisfied with these reasons, and they committed his Lordship to the Tower; and that they might appease the clamours of the populace, and make some satisfaction to the Dutch, they appointed a committee to repair to Sheerness, in order to make a thorough enquiry into the real causes of this disaster.

The fleet, after this misfortune, was put under the command of Sir Richard Haddock, Vice-Admiral Killegrew, and Sir John Ashby; who had orders to put the fleet into the best condition possible, which being executed with the utmost diligence, they had, by the end of August, a fleet of forty-one ships of the line under their command, exclusive of the Dutch. Yet, notwithstanding all their activity, it was very late in the year before they were in a capacity fit to undertake any essential service, and by that time it became necessary to lay up the larger ships.

The assiduity and administration to rectify all the errors and miscarriages which had lately happened, and, to retrieve the honour of the nation, was very visible in 1691, when the utmost efforts were exerted to send a large fleet to sea early in the spring. In order to effect this purpose, the week after that the Earl of Torrington was dismissed from his command, Edward Russell, Esq., was appointed Admiral and Commander-in-Chief; and in the fleet which was got ready for service in the spring, Admiral Russell, in the Britannia, commanded the Red squadron, having for his Vice and Rear-Admirals Sir John Ashby and George Rooke, Esq. But the French having orders to avoid fighting, nothing material was done this year.