Armada of 1779

Armada of 1779
Part of the American Revolutionary War
DateJune to September 1779
Location
Result British victory[1][2]
Belligerents
 France
Spain Spain
 Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of France Comte d'Orvilliers
Kingdom of France Comte de Vaux
Spain Luis de Córdova y Córdova
Kingdom of Great Britain Sir Charles Hardy
Kingdom of Great Britain Lord Amherst
Strength
66 ships of the line
30,000 troops[3]
38 ships of the line
20,000 troops
39,000 militia[4]
Casualties and losses
8,000 dead or sick from disease[2] 1 ship captured

The Armada of 1779 was a combined Franco-Spanish naval enterprise intended to divert British military assets, primarily of the Royal Navy, from other war theatres by invading the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. This action was a part of the wider Anglo-French War (1778–1783). The proposed plan was to seize the Isle of Wight and then capture the British naval base of Portsmouth. Ultimately, no fleet battles were fought in the Channel and the Franco-Spanish invasion never materialized. This threat to Great Britain prompted comparisons to the earlier Spanish Armada of 1588.[3]

  1. ^ Patterson 1960, p. 225.
  2. ^ a b Regan 2012, p. 217.
  3. ^ a b McLynn 1987, p. 74.
  4. ^ Middleton 2012, p. 147.