On This Day ... in 1692 & Others
The battle of Barfleur, initially a disappointing tactical stalemate, secured the supremacy of the Royal Navy in the English Channel and marked a major psychological victory over the French. Louis XIV continued to entertain plans for an invasion of England, and ordered the Comte de Tourville to escort an invasion fleet from Le Havre to Torbay. However, the transports were not ready, and by the time de Tourville was able to put to sea with 44 warships, the English and Dutch navies of William of Orange had been alerted and waited for him with 98 ships under Admiral Russell.
Despite his inferiority in numbers, de Tourville chose to attack: he enjoyed the advantages of wind and more modern ships, thanks to the efforts Louis XIV had devoted to challenging the English at sea, and de Tourville hoped to stand off and damage his enemy before prudently withdrawing. However, the wind shifted, and after a twelve-hour long gunnery duel well into the night, de Tourville broke off the engagement at midnight and attempted to head for safety. The withdrawal degenerated into a general flight by individual ships for harbours on the French coast, and over the next few days, the English and Dutch were able to isolate and destroy fifteen warships and the transport fleet.
1855: In the Sea of Azov, the Royal Navy identified considerable military stores of food and ammunition stockpiled by the Russian army on the Crimean coastline. Despite the strength of the Russian units defending the area, Lieutenants Buckley and Burgoyne, and Gunner Robarts, volunteered to go ashore on a raid. The three fought their way past guards and managed to set fire to a considerable part of the supply dump before escaping safely back to the ships offshore. All three received the Victoria Cross.
1940: The port at Dunkirk having been cleared sufficiently, following the damage suffered two days before, ships again were able to lift men from the quaysides rather than having to evacuate across the beaches. Cloud cover gave protection against the Luftwaffe until early afternoon, when the Stukas returned en masse. They put the port out of action once again, and following waves of bombers sank three Royal Navy destroyers and damaged another seven. Five of the larger steamers in the evacuation flotilla were also sunk. The RAF lost sixteen aircraft during the day, the Luftwaffe about fourteen.
1982: Major Chris Keeble began negotiations with the defenders of Goose Green before dawn &
Argentine forces surrendered at Goose Green, with approx 1,400 taken prisoner. Fewer than 700 British troops had taken the position. The advance on Port Stanley was going to plan.
Argentine Hercules transport aircraft dropped bombs on the MV British Wye, 400 miles north of South Georgia. No damage.
HMS Fearless met Antrim, 100 miles from the eastern edge of the TEZ and transferred Major-General Moore, Brigadier Wilson and their staffs. The LPD then headed for the Carrier Battle Group, accompanied by Antrim.
All 67 wounded from 2 PARA survived and were flown to HMHS Uganda.