Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke

The Lord Hawke
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
1766–1771
Prime MinisterLord Chatham
Duke of Grafton
Lord North
Preceded bySir Charles Saunders
Succeeded byLord Sandwich
Personal details
Born(1705-02-21)21 February 1705
London, England
Died17 October 1781(1781-10-17) (aged 76)
Sunbury-on-Thames, Great Britain
Resting placeSt. Nicolas' Church, North Stoneham, Hampshire, England
ProfessionAdmiral, Statesman
Military service
Allegiance Kingdom of Great Britain
Branch/service Royal Navy
Years of service1720–1781
RankAdmiral of the Fleet
CommandsHMS Wolf
HMS Flamborough
HMS Portland
HMS Berwick
HMS Neptune
Western Squadron
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
Battles/wars

Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, KB PC (21 February 1705 – 17 October 1781),[1] of Scarthingwell Hall[2] in the parish of Saxton with Scarthingwell, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, was an English Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate HMS Berwick, he took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. He also captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747.

Hawke went on to achieve a victory over a French fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759 during the Seven Years' War, preventing a French invasion of Britain. He developed the concept of a Western Squadron, keeping an almost continuous blockade of the French coast throughout the war.

Hawke also sat in the House of Commons from 1747 to 1776 and served as First Lord of the Admiralty for five years between 1766 and 1771. In this post, he was successful in bringing the navy's spending under control and also oversaw the mobilisation of the navy during the Falklands Crisis in 1770.

  1. ^ Grossman, Mark (2007). World Military Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9780816074778.
  2. ^ "Hawke, Sir Edward 1710-81". History of Parliament. Retrieved 7 January 2020.