 | | BYNG's
BATTLES Alicante Two1704 Gibraltar
1706 Barcelona
1706 Alicante 1
1708 Dunkirk
1718 Cape PassaroThe notes comment that Vice-Admiral Byng "was without doubt" in the central vessel of the advance squadron during the cannonade.Vice-Admiral Sir John Leake was, equally without doubt, the Commander-in-Chief of the whole operation, and his ship is plainly indicated by her central position in the near line, see here, and by the flag of his command at the main, shown here at left.The notes state that Leake's flagship was the Prince George, 90 guns. Remarkably, the stern depicted is the same as that in Monamy's version of the Britannia under way, and also, apart from the rounded lanterns, very similar to the principal ship in his Signal to Anchor. |
Monamy has varied his portrayals of the English ships in the near line in just as great detail as for the Dutch ships. It seems clear that he intended to identify every ship in this line of battle with complete precision. It is a little puzzling, nevertheless, that the ships all appear to be flying post-1707 ensigns. Closer inspection is required; meanwhile, the annotator's conjectured identification of some of the foreground English ships is given below.
The portrayal of the Royal Anne, below, seems in reasonable accord with Baston's print of this ship. But it also seems to appear in the centre of the bombarding line. It may eventually be possible to identify the Berwick, Burford, Grafton and Essex with greater precision.
Leake's order was carried out. There were a few wounded, and Lieutenant Story, third lieutenant of the Shrewsbury, was killed before they could bring their broadsides to bear. At two o'clock they began to cannonade, and continued until they had dismounted most of the cannon on the batteries next to the sea, and drove the enemy from them. The firing ceased everywhere except from the castle, which the ships could not elevate their guns to reach.On the 26th of July the town was stormed by parties of seamen led by Captain Evans of the Royal Oak, Captain Passenger of the Royal Anne and Captain Watkins of the St George. Rear-Admiral Jennings, with the rest of the seamen and forces that were in possession of the suburbs, followed in support. Major-General Mahoni, the defender of Alicante, retired with his forces to the castle, where he held out until August 20th, and was then obliged to surrender for lack of water.
1706 Alicante 1
battles pre 1704 battles 1704-1739 battles post 1739
monamy battles catalogue: pre 1704
Capture of Barcelona 1705; and Wreck of the Association 1707. Shovell's deeds and fate.On the return of the Fleet from the Mediterranean, on 23rd October 1707, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell's ship, the Association, was lost in shipwreck off the Scilly Isles, and so was he. Byng, in the Royal Anne, escaped "partly by good luck and partly through the presence of mind of his officers." Tunstall; Vol II, p.239.
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