Admiral Hawke: Britain's Greatest Forgotten Naval Commander

by Ruddock Finlay Mackay

Although less well known than Nelson, Hood, or Rodney, Hawke is one of the founding fathers of the Royal Navy's 'habit of victory'. His moral courage was manifest early, when in 1744 as a junior captain he took his ship out of the line at the battle of Toulon to engage the enemy more closely. This revisionist biography reinstates him as one of the most significant figures in the history of the Navy. As an admiral Hawke did not lose this innovative spirit. It was during the Seven Years War that he really made his mark, when he proved that the year-round close blockade of Brest was feasible, which became the cornerstone of British naval policy right down to 1815. With the French main fleet bottled up, invasion of the British Isles was impossible, and even if it did escape during bad weather, pursuit was always close astern. This was dramatically demonstrated on a stormy November day in 1759 when Hawke's fleet chased a startled French squadron into the poorly charted shallows of Quiberon Bay. In the course of a wild and chaotic night the British won a victory so spectacular that it was a favourite subject for marine painters for nearly a century. Unlike Nelson, Hawke rose to the pinnacle of his profession, eventually becoming First Lord of the Admiralty. Like many peacetime administrators, struggling against budget limitations , Hawke was later criticised for the state of the fleet when mobilisation called. But this book shows that his work was very creditable, and reinforced his position as the Navy's foremost figure.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History

509 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

While serving in the Royal New Zealand Navy during the Second World War, Ruddock Mackay earned a BA in British and European history by correspondence through Auckland University. After the war he read philosophy, politics and economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was senior lecturer in history at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth from 1954 until 1965, and a lecturer in modern history at the University of St Andrews from 1965 until his retirement in 1983.

Reviews

[Jerome Otte]

A traditional but well-written and solidly researched biography of Admiral Hawke, who contributed much to the British navy’s tactical doctrines. According to Hawke himself, he was always a proponent of “the old way of fighting,” and he was certainly capable of devastating gunnery and incredible seamanship during battles, Quiberon Bay in particular.

The book’s opening chapter comes off as awkward given the scarcity of material on Hawke’s early life, but from that point on the narrative is more enjoyable. Mackay demonstrates how Hawke acquired a good deal of practical experience during his naval career. Mackay gives us vivid portraits of the battles of Toulon and Finisterre. Although a few passages of the book are jerky, most of it is coherent and enjoyable. Mackay thoroughly covers Hawke’s role in the convoy system, the blockade, his logistical innovations, and Pitt’s naval strategy, and Pitt’s often wild ideas and lack of scruples and how Hawke put up with them.

More maps would have helped, and there is little real analysis, but, in all, a successful biography.

[Richard]

A well written and properly researched biography of a relatively forgotten British naval hero. A superb leader who achieved so much more than most other leaders during the so called golden period of British naval superiority during the age of sail.

He tends to get overlooked when s much attention is given to Nelson who was also superb but had the romance with Lady Hamilton and died at the moment of his greatest triumph.

It is a pity that regardless of this biography Hawke will remain in the shadows.

[Graham Bear]

The superb life story of a Great Admiral and a true patriot.