Gratuitous Royal Navy Geek Posting (TM)

(Okay, this is a repost from last year, but nobody commented that time. This'll learn ya'.)

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Edward Hawke, first Baron Hawke, in 1705.

Hawke was the admiral in command of the British fleet that won the Battle of Quiberon Bay, November 20, 1759, during the Seven Years' War.

The Battle of Quiberon Bay by Nicholas Pocock, 1812. Image swiped from the National Maritime Museum.

The battle, which the great A. T. Mahan called the Trafalgar of the Seven Years' War, effectively put an end to French naval power, with two important consequences. First, it quashed any threat of a French invasion of Britain, thereby freeing for foreign service British troops who had been stationed at home to guard against such threat. Second, it meant that the French could no longer send critical supplies and reenforcements to their army in North America or its Indian allies, thus pretty much sealing the doom of French Canada.

For you Patrick O'Brian fans out there, Hawkes' victory at Quiberon Bay also was the inspiration for the Royal Navy song "Hearts of Oak":

Come cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,
To add something more to this wonderful year,
To honour we call you, not press you like slaves,
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?

Heart of oak are our ships,
Hearts of oak are our men,
We always are ready,
Steady, boys, steady,
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

We ne'er see our foes but we will them to stay,
They never see us but they will use away,
If they run, why we follow, and run them ashore,
And if they won't fight us, we cannot do more.

Heart of oak are our ships,
Hearts of oak are our men,
We always are ready,
Steady, boys, steady,
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

They swear they'll invade us, these terrible foes,
They frighten our women, our children and beaus,
But should their flat bottoms in darkness get o'er,
Still Britons they'll find to receive them on shore.

Heart of oak are our ships,
Hearts of oak are our men,
We always are ready,
Steady, boys, steady,
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again.

Here is a midi file of the tune, written by William Boyce. The words are by David Garrick, the great 18th Century English actor and theatre impresario, who also coined the theatrical term, "Break a leg!"