Glorious First of June 1794
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 1 June 1794 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1794 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: Islands & open ocean) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Islands & open ocean | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French Revolutionary Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | France, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 47.4000, -17.4500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Glorious First of June, also known as the Third Battle of Ushant and the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the Bataille du 13 prairial an 2 or Combat de Prairial) was a fleet action fought on 1 June 1794 between the British and French navies during the War of the First Coalition. It was the first and largest fleet action of the French Revolutionary Wars.
The action was the culmination of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, which had criss-crossed the Bay of Biscay over the previous month and saw both sides capturing numerous merchant ships and small warships along with engaging in two partial, but inconclusive, fleet actions. The British Channel Squadron under Admiral of the Blue Richard Howe, Earl Howe attempted to prevent the passage of a vital French grain convoy from the United States, which was protected by the French Atlantic Squadron commanded by Counter-admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse. The two forces clashed in the Atlantic Ocean, some 400 nautical miles (700 km) west of the French island of Ushant on 1 June 1794.
At the start of the battle, Howe defied naval convention by ordering his ships to turn towards the French and rake and engage their immediate opponent.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Glorious First of June (revision 1381031616), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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Other battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Battle of Vihiers 1793
- Battle of Wattignies 1793
- Siege of Dunkirk (1793) 1793
- Siege of Lyon 1793
- Siege of Pondicherry (1793) 1793
- Action of 6 November 1794 1794
- Action of 7 May 1794 1794
- Battle of Boxtel 1794
- Battle of Martinique (1794) 1794
- Battle of Mykonos 1794
All 81 battles of the French Revolutionary Wars →
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