Action of 2 May 1707 1707
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 May 1707 – 3 May 1707 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1707 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the Spanish Succession | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | France, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.7390, 0.2421 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The action of 2 May 1707, also known as Beachy Head, was a naval battle of the War of the Spanish Succession in which a French squadron under Claude de Forbin intercepted a large British convoy escorted by three ships of the line, under Commodore Baron Wylde. The action began when three French ships, the Grifon, Blackoal and Dauphine, grappled HMS Hampton Court, killing her captain, George Clements, and taking her. Claude Forbin's 60-gun Mars next attacked HMS Grafton and, when joined by the French ships Blackoal and Fidèle, killed the Captain Edward Acton, and took her too. The convoy was scattered and the last British escort, HMS Royal Oak, badly hit and with 12 feet of water in her wells, managed to escape by running ashore near Dungeness, from where she was carried the next day into the Downs.
The French took 21 merchant ships, besides the two 70-gun ships of the line, and carried them all into Dunkirk.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Action of 2 May 1707 (revision 1370103934), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Beachy Head (1690) 1690 · 0 km
- Battle of Lewes 1264 · 24 km
- Battle of Mercredesburne 485 · 25 km
- Battle of Hastings 1066 · 26 km
- Battle of Bramber Bridge 1643 · 42 km
- Battle of Winchelsea 1350 · 43 km
Other battles of the War of the Spanish Succession
- Battle of Calcinato 1706
- Battle of Murcia 1706
- Battle of Ramillies 1706
- Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1706) 1706
- Siege of Turin 1706
- Battle at The Lizard 1707
- Battle of Almansa 1707
- Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1707) 1707
- Siege of Gaeta (1707) 1707
- Siege of Toulon (1707) 1707
All 61 battles of the War of the Spanish Succession →
Browse more: battles in England · Europe · Early modern battles