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Description
There are events in history that decide a nation's course in the future. They are rare -most of the time no one event has an effect so dramatic- but they exist. For both Great Britain and France, this event came in the latter days of the Spring of 1683.

By late 1580s, both France and England had learned of the truth that Iberian nations had had a century ago: the existence of a powerful, ocean-faring navy is vital for the continued existence of an empire. They two kingdoms had both had a long seafaring tradition -the English moreso than their long-time rivals- but the naval arms race -the race to the Atlantic, if we are to be poetic- which had began as soon as French and English colonists began claiming islands in the Lesser Antilles had its clear winner in the 1640s. England already held two sizable -if small- colonies in the Northern America -specifically in regions France had been planning to colonise- and smaller trading posts in Africa, while France had been forced to settle for a small plantation colony in the easternmost regions of the Guiana Shield, especially as Portugal seized its only existing African settlements in the Guinea Coast.

England became Great Britain and France became embroiled in the Second League War, but the latter did not forget her ambitions or the bitter presumed loss of what they had planned to call New France. In 1651 and after taking the helm of the state from his regent Anne of Austria, Louis XIV of France -known by the French as Louis the Great- began a period of naval expansion. Shipyards and drydocks were built in Picardy, Normandy, Gascony, Brittany and Poitou, and ships of various size and capability were set to be built there. The Naval Expansion would, if completed, overshadow the British fleet dramatically and topple the naval balance of power enjoyed between Atlantic nations, and for that purpose it was done for the most part in secret.

The British learned of France's naval expansion through sheer accident, but it can be conceded that there was little chance France could have kept it a secret until the final hour. Even then, Britain learned about the French expansion plans less than a year before its projected deadline. British spies reported to the government of Henry Fairfax about their discovery of French naval expansion and the possibility of a French strike on British shipyards in the south, and Fairfax responded promptly by a preemptive strike.

Sanctioned by Alfred II, King of Great Britain, Ireland and Milan, the British state minister ordered the Royal Navy to draft prompt plans for strike on France, and to 'implement it as soon, efficiently and ruthlessly as possible'. Four fleets leaving from Royan, Calais, Plymouth and Dublin, put together making 42 ships of the line, 250 merchantmen and up to 100 auxiliary ships assembled in the Channel Islands on 9 May 1683. At that time this fleet was only a fraction of the Royal Navy's presence in the British Isles, but it was nearly equal in size to the fleet that the French had assembled. Commanded by Herbert Brooke, an aspiring officer in the Navy, the fleets set sail on 11 May, and began the Battle on day later.

Sometimes known as the Franco-British War of 1683, this singular naval engagement began by the erection of a massive blockade on all French ports in the Atlantic. On 6:30 of the 12th of May, British ships began bombardment of French drydocks and Shipyards, sending in fireships to destroy their rival's naval infrastructure. Shocked by this sudden attack -unaware their enemy had known of their naval expansion plans- and without any central communication, the French were incapable of building any tangible defense against the attack on the first day, or the second, third or fourth. Small-scale skirmishes still occurred, with local flotillas of ships of the line and frigates trying to break the blockade to no avail, but it took until 16th of May for the French to respond in any meaningful capacity, and by that point, 63% of their naval infrastructure -the shipyards in particular- had been destroyed. France sent in its fleets to engage the massive blockade in both the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay on May 16, in a fleet with 70 ships of the line and up to 200 smaller ships that they could spare, including the French Flagship Croissant. Led by Anne-Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville, a promising French admiral -and until his death in 1701 Rooke's primary opponent, the French engaged their rivals in a daring defense, but while they forced massive losses on the British merchant navy, theirs was much greater. 75% of the French Navy including 64 of its ships of the line were sunk, with the paltry number of survivors fleeing for friendly ports in Spain and the Netherlands. Shocked at the sudden, decisive defeat and not prepared for a prolonged land engagement -that they knew they had little chance of winning with their coasts all under blockade- the French had no military response to give. British ships continued their bombardment of French coasts and shipyards for another two days, by the end of which France had practically lost its ability to project influence across the ocean.

The British blockade on France continued until the Franco-British Treaty of Reconciliation in 1701, and for the duration of this period France was incapable of restoring its naval power to even the level it had been prior to Louis XIV's ambitious expansion plans. On the other hand, the Netherlands, Denmark-Norway, Sweden, Portugal and Spain formed an open naval alliance against British domination, believing that London may strike them next to cripple their naval capability in an attempt to seize their colonies and settlements in North America. Unable to overpower five naval powers, at least to the level it had the French, the British Empire was forced regardless to settle at being one of the many rivalling colonial powers in North America. The French were never able to stage an entry in North America as they had wanted however, and after that decisive, history-making engagement, France never won a war against Britain again.

Description
There are events in history that decide a nation's course in the future. They are rare -most of the time no one event has an effect so dramatic- but they exist. For both Great Britain and France, this event came in the latter days of the Spring of 1683.

By late 1580s, both France and England had learned of the truth that Iberian nations had had a century ago: the existence of a powerful, ocean-faring navy is vital for the continued existence of an empire. They two kingdoms had both had a long seafaring tradition -the English moreso than their long-time rivals- but the naval arms race -the race to the Atlantic, if we are to be poetic- which had began as soon as French and English colonists began claiming islands in the Lesser Antilles had its clear winner in the 1640s. England already held two sizable -if small- colonies in the Northern America -specifically in regions France had been planning to colonise- and smaller trading posts in Africa, while France had been forced to settle for a small plantation colony in the easternmost regions of the Guiana Shield, especially as Portugal seized its only existing African settlements in the Guinea Coast.

England became Great Britain and France became embroiled in the Second League War, but the latter did not forget her ambitions or the bitter presumed loss of what they had planned to call New France. In 1651 and after taking the helm of the state from his regent Anne of Austria, Louis XIV of France -known by the French as Louis the Great- began a period of naval expansion. Shipyards and drydocks were built in Picardy, Normandy, Gascony, Brittany and Poitou, and ships of various size and capability were set to be built there. The Naval Expansion would, if completed, overshadow the British fleet dramatically and topple the naval balance of power enjoyed between Atlantic nations, and for that purpose it was done for the most part in secret.

The British learned of France's naval expansion through sheer accident, but it can be conceded that there was little chance France could have kept it a secret until the final hour. Even then, Britain learned about the French expansion plans less than a year before its projected deadline. British spies reported to the government of Henry Fairfax about their discovery of French naval expansion and the possibility of a French strike on British shipyards in the south, and Fairfax responded promptly by a preemptive strike.

Sanctioned by Alfred II, King of Great Britain, Ireland and Milan, the British state minister ordered the Royal Navy to draft prompt plans for strike on France, and to 'implement it as soon, efficiently and ruthlessly as possible'. Four fleets leaving from Royan, Calais, Plymouth and Dublin, put together making 42 ships of the line, 250 merchantmen and up to 100 auxiliary ships assembled in the Channel Islands on 9 May 1683. At that time this fleet was only a fraction of the Royal Navy's presence in the British Isles, but it was nearly equal in size to the fleet that the French had assembled. Commanded by Herbert Brooke, an aspiring officer in the Navy, the fleets set sail on 11 May, and began the Battle on day later.

Sometimes known as the Franco-British War of 1683, this singular naval engagement began by the erection of a massive blockade on all French ports in the Atlantic. On 6:30 of the 12th of May, British ships began bombardment of French drydocks and Shipyards, sending in fireships to destroy their rival's naval infrastructure. Shocked by this sudden attack -unaware their enemy had known of their naval expansion plans- and without any central communication, the French were incapable of building any tangible defense against the attack on the first day, or the second, third or fourth. Small-scale skirmishes still occurred, with local flotillas of ships of the line and frigates trying to break the blockade to no avail, but it took until 16th of May for the French to respond in any meaningful capacity, and by that point, 63% of their naval infrastructure -the shipyards in particular- had been destroyed. France sent in its fleets to engage the massive blockade in both the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay on May 16, in a fleet with 70 ships of the line and up to 200 smaller ships that they could spare, including the French Flagship Croissant. Led by Anne-Hilarion de Costentin, Comte de Tourville, a promising French admiral -and until his death in 1701 Rooke's primary opponent, the French engaged their rivals in a daring defense, but while they forced massive losses on the British merchant navy, theirs was much greater. 75% of the French Navy including 64 of its ships of the line were sunk, with the paltry number of survivors fleeing for friendly ports in Spain and the Netherlands. Shocked at the sudden, decisive defeat and not prepared for a prolonged land engagement -that they knew they had little chance of winning with their coasts all under blockade- the French had no military response to give. British ships continued their bombardment of French coasts and shipyards for another two days, by the end of which France had practically lost its ability to project influence across the ocean.

The British blockade on France continued until the Franco-British Treaty of Reconciliation in 1701, and for the duration of this period France was incapable of restoring its naval power to even the level it had been prior to Louis XIV's ambitious expansion plans. On the other hand, the Netherlands, Denmark-Norway, Sweden, Portugal and Spain formed an open naval alliance against British domination, believing that London may strike them next to cripple their naval capability in an attempt to seize their colonies and settlements in North America. Unable to overpower five naval powers, at least to the level it had the French, the British Empire was forced regardless to settle at being one of the many rivalling colonial powers in North America. The French were never able to stage an entry in North America as they had wanted however, and after that decisive, history-making engagement, France never won a war against Britain again.