Le Formidable Model 1760

摘要

When only eight years old, the 80-gun Le Formidable was captured by Admiral Sir Edward Hawke at the battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November 1759. Hawke in the Royal George (100) achieved a spectacular victory over the French. Out of 21 French ships of the line, six were taken, burnt or wrecked while the remaining escaped up the rivers Vilaine and Charente. Of these, few were fit for service; some broke their backs on the bars across the river mouths. After capture, Le Formidable was commissioned into the Royal Navy as a 74- gun, Third Rate with an anglicized version of her name HMS Formidable – she was the first of five to bear this illustrious name.