Ship Names : HMS Hawk

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Hawk (UK)
Hawke (UK)

Admiral of the Fleet Edward Hawke, Lord Hawke; born 1705, died 1781. Having entered the Navy, he rose to be a Lieutenant in 1729, Commander in 1733, and Captain in 1734. As Captain of the Berwick, 70 he behaved with conspicuous ability and gallantry in Admiral Matthew’s unsatisfactory action off Toulon on February 22nd 1744, and captured the only ship taken from the enemy. In 1747 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral, and given a squadron to intercept a large French West-Indian convoy, escorted by a small squadron under Admiral l’Etenduere. On October 14th he caught them off Cape Finisterre. Having 14 sail to the French 9, he captured 6 after a gallant running fight, but the convoy escaped. In 1756 he wass sent to relieve Admiral Byng, after the latter’s failure to save Minorca, and the following year he commanded the expedition to Basque Roass. Still in command of the Channel Fleet, he inflicted a crushing defeat on the French on November 20th, 1759, in Quiberon Bay, which put an end to all their schemes of invasion as far as that war was concerned. This action was fought in a gale, on a lee shore and in narrow waters, where finally most of the French ships were destroyed. Hawke continued in command of the Channel Fleet another three years. In 1766 he became First Lord of the Admiralty, and Admiral of the Fleet two years later, but was not raised to the peerage until 1776.