A planned invasion of Great Britain was planned by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1744 shortly after the declaration of war between them as part of the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

. A large invasion force was prepared and put to sea from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.next French attempt to invade Britain, in 1759, which also proved unsuccessful.

Background

Britain had been at war with France's ally Spain since 1739, but despite widespread expectations France had not entered the war on Spain's side. Sporadic fighting in the Americas had broken down into a stalemate. A separate war had broken out on continental Europe regarding the

Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

in which Britain and Spain were also on opposite sides and in which France remained initially neutral. It was clear to many in both countries that war between them could not be far off, and the British had been particularly alarmed by extensive fortifications in the French port of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Dettingen and the two countries were in a state of ''de facto'' war by late 1743. In January 1744 the French King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

formally declared war on Britain. His Ministers were convinced that a strong, immediate strike was needed against Britain and began advocating an invasion of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. British financial subsidies were essential to keeping its continental allies

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

afloat. France believed that by invading Britain and knocking them out of the war, they could pave the way to an easy victory over their enemies to the east. Preparations for the invasion had been ongoing for some time before the declaration of war and Minister of the Marine

Maurepas Maurepas may refer to: * Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas, French statesman Count of Maurepas (Yvelines) * Fort Maurepas, also known as Old Biloxi, a settlement in Louisiana (New France) * Maurepas, Louisiana, an unincorporated comm ...

had detailed his trusted and highly competent First Commissioner

Joseph Pellerin Joseph Pellerin (1684–1783) was a French Intendant-General of the Navy, first Commissioner of the Navy as well as a celebrated numismatic pioneer. Pellerin was born at Marly, near Versailles 27 April 1684 and died 2 August 1783 at his châtea ...

to prepare for it. Many flat-bottomed troop ships were built and provisioned in the northern ports under the Pellerin's direction. The King strongly approved this plan.

Preparations

The French planned to install the Jacobite

James Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

in London as James III. He would end Britain's involvement in the war, and would turn Britain into a

client state A client state, in international relations, is a state that is economically, politically, and/or militarily subordinate to another more powerful state (called the "controlling state"). A client state may variously be described as satellite state, ...

's government. The

Anglo-Austrian Alliance The Anglo-Austrian Alliance connected the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Habsburg monarchy during the first half of the 18th century. It was largely the work of the British whig statesman Duke of Newcastle, who considered an alliance with Austri ...

would be terminated, as would Britain's alliance with the Dutch. This would reverse Britain's past successful policy of forming Grand Alliances against France on the continent through military support and financial subsidies. James, who was living in exile in a French palace in Paris, was made aware of these plans. It was hoped that Jacobite supporters in the British navy and army would assist the French. In some cases this proved wildly optimistic, as the officers listed as being committed Jacobites were often not or had already deceased. France now gathered a force estimated at somewhere between 6-15,000 in size at

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.invasion scare An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

, but the country was wary of the concept of standing armies and had limited regular forces to defend Great Britain. The French planned for a landing at

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

in Essex. A squadron under Roq would sail from Brest, checking that the Channel between Dunkirk and the English coast was clear of the British fleet. A message would then be sent to Saxe's invasion force at Dunkirk, informing them that the crossing was feasible. British agents in Rome and Paris got word of these preparations, and steps were taken to prepare. Of the 10,000 active troops in Britain, 7,000 were deployed to defend London and South East England. The Dutch Republic promised another 6,000 men in defence of Britain in early February. This act of Dutch support caused Robert Trevor, the British envoy in the Dutch Republic, to write that he didn't believe that "His Majesty can have amongst his own natural subjects a million of persons more zealously and firmly attached to His Majesty's government and family, than the inhabitants of Holland". It would however take until 22 March for the Dutch to arrive, and by then the threat was already over.

Invasion attempt

The covering squadron under

Rocquefeuil Jacques Aymar de Roquefeuil du Bousquet (14 November 1665, in château du Bousquet, Montpeyroux, Rouergue – 8/9 March 1744) was a French Navy admiral. Family He was a member of the de Roquefeuil-Blanquefort family from Languedoc in Fran ...

sailed from

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

on 26 January. The French had made a mistake, believing that Norris's larger British fleet was in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

when it was in fact sitting off The Downs. When Rocquefeuil arrived off

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...

on the 27 February he spotted Norris' fleet and hastily retreated. Norris pursued, but a violent storm suddenly descended – saving Rocquefeuil's squadron, which managed to avoid total destruction, although it was caught in the middle of the worst of the storm. The main invasion fleet had sailed days before, made up mostly of transport ships. This expedition soon ran into a fierce storm. Twelve French transport ships were sunk, seven of which went down with all hands. The others were severely damaged and forced to limp back into Dunkirk. A week later the French fleet arrived in

severely battered by the storms. The British ships had been able to run swiftly into nearby harbours, and had escaped the storms' worst damages. The French government could not see any immediate prospect of a successful second attempt, and the troops were badly needed elsewhere. Saxe's force were removed from the expedition, and instead marched into

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

to fight the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

Hanoverians The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house orig ...

. Many were happy to return to what they saw as a more conventional form of soldiering, after the terrors of their seaborne voyage.Longmate p.149

Aftermath

The following year a much smaller force was landed by France in northern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to support the

Jacobite rising , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

which had broken out, led by

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

. When Stuart reached

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, France agreed to send a much larger invasion force to support them – but this decision was taken too late. By the time such an expedition was ready, Stuart had withdrawn to Scotland and the rebellion was ended with the Battle of Culloden in 1746 after which the French invasion plans were shelved for the remainder of the war. In 1759 the

Duc de Choiseul {{Unreferenced, date=April 2019 Choiseul is an illustrious noble family from Champagne, France, descendants of the comtes of Langres. The family's head was Renaud III de Choiseul, comte de Langres and sire de Choiseul, who in 1182 married Alix ...

became captivated with the idea of a single strike to knock Britain out of the war. He revisited the plans for an invasion on the south coast of England with other landings across the British Isles. He became convinced that the 1744 invasion had failed, like the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

, partly because of the complex attempt to combine both a large fleet of warships, with the invasion force carried in transports. His plan was to move an invasion force swiftly from

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, without fleet protection, and end the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. He rejected

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Simms, Brendan Brendan Peter Simms (born 1967, Dublin) is a Professor of the history of international relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Early life Brendan Simms is the son of Anngret and David Simm ...

. ''Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire.'' Penguin Books (2008) *Jonathan Oates, DUTCH FORCES IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN: A BRITISH PERSPECTIVE, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 85, No.341 (Spring 2007), pp. 20-39 {{coord missing, France Cancelled military operations involving France Battles of the War of the Austrian Succession 1744 in Great Britain 1744 in France Cancelled invasions Invasions of the United Kingdom Britain 1744