The French fleet blockaded in Toulon had taken advantage of the withdrawal of the British fleet to Gibraltar for refit, and broke out into the Atlantic, heading for Brest, where it was supposed to cover French landings in Essex.
Despite attaining a measure of surprise in running the Gibraltar Strait at night, de la Clue's fleet of twelve ships of the line was soon pursued by Sir Edward Boscawen's ships. The French line was overhauled on 17 August off Lagos Bay, Portugal, and a fierce action ensued. Boscawen's flagship Namur suffered heavy damage to her rigging and dropped out the fight - he transferred his flag to the Newark - but the rear French ship, Centaur, was forced to surrender. The coup de grace was delivered to the French fleet the following day.
Ah, yes, the second world war. (The first world war would be what is now called the War of the Austrian Succession.)
Revisionist twentieth-century historians notwithstanding.