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Robert Duff (Royal Navy Officer)
Vice-Admiral Robert Duff (c.1721 – 6 June 1787) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence. He briefly as colonial governor of Newfoundland. Family and early life Duff was born c. 1721, among the youngest of more than thirty children of Patrick Duff of Craigston, by Craigston's second wife. Little is known about his early life, but a story that does survive attests to his father's fecundity and possibly also to Robert's own spirited approach. Walking in his garden the father, Patrick Duff, came across a small boy and enquired 'And wha's laddie are you?' to which his son, the future Admiral Robert Duff, replied 'Dinna ye ken your ain son Robbie, ye auld fool!'. Robert joined the navy and was listed a lieutenant by 9 March 1739. He was advanced to commander on 4 December 1744, and by 1746 was in command of the bomb vessel , serving off the Scottish coast. Duff received the command of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Queensferry
Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is administered by the City of Edinburgh council area. It lies ten miles to the north-west of Edinburgh city centre, on the shore of the Firth of Forth between the Forth Bridge, Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing. The prefix ''South'' serves to distinguish it from North Queensferry, on the opposite shore of the Forth. Both towns derive their name from the ferry service established by Queen Margaret in the 11th century, which continued to operate at the town until 1964, when the Road Bridge was opened. Its population at the 2011 census was 9,026 based on the 2010 definition of the locality which in addition to the burgh includes Dalmeny. Toponymy The Gaelic name ''Taobh a Deas Chas Chaolais'' means " heSouthern Side of heSteep Strait". The name "Cas Chaolas" (Steep Strait) is older than the English name; it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Allies heavily bombarded Saint-Malo, which was garrisoned by German troops. The city changed into a popular tourist centre, with a ferry terminal serving the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, as well as the Southern English settlements of Portsmouth, Hampshire and Poole, Dorset. The famous transatlantic single-handed yacht race Route du Rhum, which takes place every four years in November, is between Saint Malo and Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe. Population The population in 2017 was 46,097 – though this can increase to up to 300,000 in the summer tourist season. With the suburbs included, the metropolitan area's population is approximately 133,000 (2017). The population of the commune more than doubled in 1967 with the merging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flag-captain
In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First Captain", with the "flag captain" as the ship's "Second Captain". Unlike a "captain of the fleet", a flag-captain was generally a fairly junior post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ..., as he had the admiral to keep an eye on him, but – like a "captain of the fleet" – a "flag captain" was a post rather than a rank. References F Royal Navy {{navy-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Expedition Against Martinique (1762)
The British expedition against Martinique was a military action that took place in January and February 1762. It was part of the Seven Years' War. Background After the surrender of Dominica to a British expeditionary force, the French in Martinique fully expected the same expedition to head into their direction. Accordingly, they took measures for their defense. The French force in Martinique consisted of 1,200 regulars, 7,000 local militia and 4,000 hired privateersmen. Furthermore, the mountainous nature of the island made it rather easy to defend. The neighbouring British islands did what they could to help the mother-country: * Antigua sent blacks and part of her old garrison, the 38th Regiment of Foot, which had not left her since Queen Anne's day; * Barbados raised 500 black and 500 white men, which were the more acceptable since that island was the rendezvous for the expedition. The first troops to arrive in Carlisle Bay were a detachment from Belle-Isle, Newfoundl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB ( bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. It is often claimed that he was the commander to have pioneered the tactic of breaking the line. Rodney came from a distinguished but poor background, and went to sea at the age of fourteen. His first major action was the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747. He made a large amount of prize money during the 1740s, allowing him to purchase a large country estate and a seat in the House of Commons of Great Britain. During the Seven Years' War, Rodney was involved in a number of amphibious operations such as the raids on Rochefort and Le Havre and the Siege of Louisbourg. He became well known for his role in the capture of Martinique in 1762. Following the Peace of Paris, Rodney's financial situation sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago. The subregion includes all the islands in the Antilles, plus The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the North Atlantic Ocean. Nowadays, the term West Indies is often interchangeable with the term Caribbean, although the latter may also include some Central and South American mainland nations which have Caribbean coastlines, such as Belize, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname, as well as the Atlantic island nations of Barbados, Bermuda, and Trinidad and Tobago, all of which are geographically distinct from the three main island groups, but culturally related. Origin and use of the term In 1492, Christopher Columbus became the first European to record his arri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Quiberon Bay
The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' in French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire. The battle was the culmination of British efforts to eliminate French naval superiority, which could have given the French the ability to carry out their planned invasion of Great Britain. A British fleet of 24 ships of the line under Sir Edward Hawke tracked down and engaged a French fleet of 21 ships of the line under Marshal de Conflans. After hard fighting, the British fleet sank or ran aground six French ships, captured one and scattered the rest, giving the Royal Navy one of its greatest victories, and ending the threat of French invasion for good. The battle signalled the rise of the Royal Navy in becoming the world's foremost naval power, and, for the British, was part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belle Île
Belle-Île, Belle-Île-en-Mer, or Belle Isle ( br, Ar Gerveur, ; br, label=Old Breton, Guedel) is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the ''département'' of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is from the Quiberon peninsula. Administratively, the island is divided into four communes: * Bangor * Le Palais * Locmaria * Sauzon Belle-Île formed a canton until 2015 when it was merged into the canton of Quiberon as part of a general overhaul. Geography The island measures and has an average elevation of . The area is about . The coasts are a mixture between dangerously sharp cliff edges on the southwest side, the ''Côte Sauvage'' ("wild coast"), and placid beaches, the largest being ''les Grands Sables'' ("the great sands") and navigable harbours on the northeast side. The island's climate is oceanic, having less rain and milder winters than on the mainland. The two main ports are Le Palais (accessible by ferry from Quiberon, Port-Navalo and Vanne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quiberon Bay
Quiberon Bay (french: Baie de Quiberon) is an area of sheltered water on the south coast of Brittany. The bay is in the Morbihan département. Geography The bay is roughly triangular in shape, open to the south with the Gulf of Morbihan to the north-east and the narrow peninsula of Presqu'île de Quiberon providing protection from the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The islands of Belle-Île, Houat and Hœdic add to the bay's protection. There are many dangerous shoals at the entrance to the bay. History Quiberon Bay has been the location of several important naval battles. Battle of Morbihan The first recorded battle in Quiberon Bay's history was the Battle of Morbihan in 56 BCE, between the Romans, led by Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, and the local Veneti tribe. The Romans had struggled to overcome the Veneti, who had coastal fortresses that could easily be evacuated by their powerful navy. Eventually, the Romans built galleys and met the Veneti sailing fleet in Qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brest, France
Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental France. With 142,722 inhabitants in a 2007 census, Brest forms Western Brittany's largest metropolitan area (with a population of 300,300 in total), ranking third behind only Nantes and Rennes in the whole of historic Brittany, and the 19th most populous city in France; moreover, Brest provides services to the one million inhabitants of Western Brittany. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the ''préfecture'' (regional capital) of the department is the much smaller Quimper. During the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour in 1631. Brest grew around its arsenal unti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, KB, PC (21 February 1705 – 17 October 1781), of Scarthingwell Hall in the parish of Towton, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate , 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. Hawke went on to achieve a victory over a French fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759 during the Seven Years' War, preventing a French invasion of Britain. He developed the concept of a Western Squadron, keeping an almost continuous blockade of the French coast throughout the war. Hawke also sat in the House of Commons from 1747 to 1776 and served as First Lord of the Admiralty for five years between 1766 and 1771. In this post, he was successful in bringing the navy's spending under control and also oversaw the mobilisation of the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morbihan
Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline. It had a population of 759,684 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 56 Morbihan INSEE It is noted for its Carnac stones, which predate and are more extensive than the monument in , England. Three major military educ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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