^Up XIX. from the Revolution to the Death of -K/

' e Kingto Hoi-

' a nd.

'696. Want of Men, as on Account of thesmall Number of Ships under his Com-mand : He, therefore, call’d a Councilof War, to debate what could be done.

(»)

The third of May, the King em-barked for . Holland, but the Wind,which was then at S. S. E. veering,in the Evening, to the Eastward, withthe Appearance of a Storm, His Maje-sty came on Shoar again. Two Daysafter, the Wind being more favourable,and the Weather fair, he went onBoard the Elizabeth, Vice AdmiralHylmer, Commander ; On the seventh,landed safely at Orange Polder, and a-^ , bout Midnight arrived at the Hague.

The eighth of May, the Fleet being\^ encfl oif of Dartmouth, the Oxford came in,whose Captain brought Intelligence,which he had that Morning receivedfrom the Master of a Portuguese Vessel,bound for Rotterdam, that a FrenchSquadron of Men of War, of forty Sail,with four Flag-Ships, had been seen,six Days before, in the Latitude of fiveand forty Degrees, Cape Finis erre bear-ing South, about forty Leagues distant,and that they were then steering N. N.E. with the Wind, W. N. W. And,the eleventh, they had farther Intelli-gence, by the Lime , of their beingpafs’d the Str eights.

The fourteenth, the Fleet came onthe Coast of UJhant, and a Squadron ofsmall Vessels, under the Command ofCaptain Bazil Beaumont, was sent be-tween that and the Main, for Intelli-gence ; But, by the Captain of theFoudroyant, a French Man of War, tak-en by Captain Norris, the Admiral wasinformed, that the Toulon Fleet got in-to Brest, the fifth, Old Stile, being se-

ven and forty Ships of the Line. This 1696.Intelligence being confirmed, and noRoom left to doubt of the Toulon-Flcet, ^ F renc kand Monsieu rNefmondl’s Squadron, being s j n t 0in Brest, it was resolved, on the eigh- •Brest,teenth, by a Council of War, to repairto Torb ay, with the first Southerly orWesterly Wind.

Admiral Evertzen, with twelveDutch Men of War, joined the Fleet,the next Day, together with the Sunder-land, an Engiijh Fourth-Rate • the For'tune Fire-ship, and Vice-Admiral Aysmer, in the Elizabeth, with the New-ark and Mary, and between thirty andforty Sail more, among which were theBomb-Vessels and Tenders. However,as it was before determined, severalCruisers being stationed, between

ant, and the Ife of Bas, the Start an & The FleetTJJhant, and off the Lizard, the Fleet f nes t0came, the twenty-third, to Tor bay. (0) 0lbay ''

The Proceedings a/'J ohn, Lord Berke-ley, with the Fleet, tn and about theC hannel.

Sir George Rooke

being ordered, on The Drd

the seven and twentieth of May, to re- Admi-ral of theFleet-

%

%J‘ e et

fy,

turn to hisDuty to the Admiralty-board,the Lord Berkeley was appointed Admi-ral of the Fleer. Before Sir George cameon Shoar, he had Intelligence, that theMercury, an Advice-boat, had counted,a little above Camaret-Bay, seventy Sailos French Men of War, all ready tocome to Sea, with four Flags flying, andin the Bay five small Ships more. Up-on which, at his coming to Town, he d Proposalmade a Proposal to the Principal Secre- f or attem pt-tary of State, for attempting them there ipfsach at(p) Which, however, by a Council of Camaret.

War,

Advice, that they were got inro Brest, he wasthen to come with the Fleet to Torbay, and re-main there 'till farther Order.

(n) It was there, nevertheless, resolved, toproceed West, fifteen Leagues from UJhant, andthat, in their Passage, some small Frigats andBngantines should be sent for Intelligence,and par-ticularly to discover, whether the Toulon Squa-dron was got into Brest- But yet the Council ofWar thought it convenient, to represent, I hat,since the Fleet was reduced to seven and thirtyBnglifh Ships, and twenty Dutch, of the Line. ofBattle, thev would be of less Strength than theToulon Squadron, and that of Monsieur Nesmond’s,d join’d. However, to strengthen them all thatPossibly could be, he was ordered to take withhim three Third-Rates, one Foun.h-R.ate, andthree of the Fire-ships which were appointed for

°(of AT°tHlme, the whole Naval Strengths

one Hundred and fifteen Ships and Vessels, sixty-seven of them English and eight and forty Dutch,whereof eighty-five'were of the Line of Battle, ofwhichforty-nine were Engiijh,viz. six First-Rates,eight Second-Rates, eight and twenty Third-Rates and seven Fourth-Rates : Of the Dutch,there were six and thirty, eight of which carriedninety Guns, foruteen between seventy and seven-ty four, eleven of sixty-four, and three of aboutfifty; But several os their Companieswerevery sickly,especially those which came from the S freights,insomuch that there wanted full four ThousandMen in our Ships.

(p) The Proposal was, That the Body of theFleet should ly in Camaret and Bertheaume Bays,and a Detachment be made, to sustain the smallFrigats and Bomb-Veffels, while they went in todo what Mischief they could- It was his Opinion,that by thus blocking up the Enemies Fleet, j ritheir principal Port, insulting their Coasts, and

burning

en