Quiberon Bay, Battle of

Quiberon Bay, Battle of ( 1759 )
A major British naval victory in the Seven Years War that took place at Quiberon Bay on the west coast of Brittany in northern France. The French were planning to invade Britain. In 1759 Admiral Hawke was blockading Brest, but in November the French admiral Conflans broke out during a storm. Hawke pursued the French fleet and when most of the ships took shelter in Quiberon Bay he came through the dangerous shoals in a gale. The French lost 11 ships and 25,000 men, and the British only two ships, ending the threat of a French invasion of Britain.