^fUp. VIII. from the Revolution, to the Death o/K. William.

entirely re-duced,

not attempting to relieve Limerick (as it ed by a total Reduction of a Kingdom 1691.was reported and believed they would which had proved so long troublesome ■ Aml Irelandere ^' have done) that Town, likewise, soon to His Majesty’s Affairs. (</)surrendered, which Success was follow-

CHAP. VIII.

Naval Expeditions and Transactions of the English, in the West-Indies, during

the Tear i6qi.

b ^91.

P'r,

2 ®* Em-

*ica.

k k

^erica.

I N the foregoing Chapter, I gave aparticular Account of the Transac-tions of the Grand Fleet, and theseveral Squadrons detach’d from itnear Home ; I shall now take a Viewof what was done, this Year, in theWefi-lndies.

Captain Ralph Wren, whom I justmentioned at the End of the sixth Chap-ter, being then in the Norwich, hadOrders to take, likewise, under hisCommand, two other Fourth-Rate-

Security of the homeward-bound Trade, the Shipsin the River Shannon , and the intercepting Suc-cours from France to Ireland-, But, when theFirst- and Second-Rates could be no longer conti-nued abroad, with Safety, he was to order themto Spithead , there to remain "till farther Direc-tions, and to appoint the Ships of smaller Rates,(both Englijh and Dutch) which were in a Condi-tion for it, to cruise until the thirtieth of Septem-ber (if their Provisions would last so long) in themost proper Station, for answering the three lastServices besorementioned ; Which Station theirLordships were of Opinion, ought to be betweentwenty and thirty Leagues S. W. off of CapeClear , tho’ they thought sit to leave that Matterto his Determination. He was also farther direct-ed, when he came in with the great Ships, to ap-point three of the Englijh Flag-Officers, to re-main with the cruising Squadron, and to orderthe Senior of them, at the Expiration of hisCruise, to bring home with him, the Ships of Warin the Shannon.

in

(y) The Campaign being now at an End,Flanders , King William , after having retiredsome Time to his Palace of L00, near D event er,to take the Diversion of Hunting, came back tothe Hague, to concert the State of the War forthe ensuing Campaign. On the eighteenth (ac-cording to Kennet , but the Hi dory of K. William,says, the twentieth) of 0 Hob er , His Majesty em-barked on the Mary Yacht, in the Masse, beingattended by a Squadron of Men of War, underthe Command of Sir Cloudefly Shovel , Rear-Ad-miral of the Blue, and came, the next Evening,to Kensington. On the two and twentieth, theparliament met, and among other Subsidies, gavefifteen Hundred, seventy-five Thousand, eightHundred and ninety-eight Pounds for the Supply?s Their Majesties Navy, for the Year, 1052.mcluding the Ordnance, and the Charge of Build-mg one dry and two wet Docks at Portsmouth -•she House of Commons likewise voted, that the

Ships, the Diamond and Mordaunt, and x 69upon Arrival with them at St. Helen's,he was to receive on Board there aHundred and fifty Soldiers, Recruits forthe Duke of Bolt on' s Regiment, then inthe Leeward Iflands.

There were also other Land Forces,to be carried in Transport Ships, whichwith Victualers, and the Trade, he wasto convoy to Barbadoes, where he wasto stay no longer, than might be abso-lutely necessary for Refreshing his Men,

but

Miscarriages of the Fleet should be enquired in-to, by a Committee of the whole House. A Weekafter, Admiral Rujfel presented to the House theInstructions given by the Commistioners for exe-cuting the Office of Lord High Admiral of Eng-land ; a List of the Ships ; and an Extract of seve-ral Letters and Orders touching the Proceedingsof the said Fleet, during the last Summer’s Ex-pedition : All which were compared and exami-ned with the Copies of the several Orders thathad been issued by the Commistioners of the Ad-miralty to the said Admiral; &c.

I find an Account, in this Year, in For- Memoir ps debin's Memoirs, of an Action between a Dunhrk- F or fein.Squadron commanded by him and Bart , and anEnglijh Man of War, which was Convoy to threeMerchant-Ships. The Account he gives of it(for I have no other) is as follows : " The Ship“ (fays he) which I commanded, sailing the best“ of any in the Squadron, it was agreed, that“ I should endeavour to speak with the Englijh“ Man of’War. It was in the Night I came“ up with them, so I fired a Gun, and put“ out a Lanthorn for a Signal. I came within“ the Hearing of him, who seemed to be the“ Commander, and we had some Discourse to-“ gether. I found them to be an Englijh Man“ of War, which had three Merchant-Ships un-“ der his Convoy. I pretended to be Englijh“ too, and the Captain letting me know he was“ bound for Muscovy, I gave him to understand“ that I came from Flushing. He took my Word“ for it, and I kept near him all Night; But,

“ at Day-break, I hoisted my white Flag, board-“ ed him, and, after a short Fight, took him.

“ This Ship mounted four and forty Guns,

“ whereas mine had but two and thirty. I lost“ but fix Men in this Action, and the English“ forty. The other three Ships were mastered“ with a great deal of Ease, and almost without“ striking a Blow for them.