SAINTS, BATTLE OF THE. This battle was fought be tween the fleets of England and France in the channel between the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe on April 12, 1782. It takes its name from the Saints Is. in the channel. The French had 35 battleships under the Comte de Grasse based on Martinique, and their object was to give the British fleet the slip, and capture Jamaica. The British fleet of 36 ships was based on St. Lucia and was under Rodney.
The British Admiral kept close watch on the French movements. When, therefore, on April 8, the signal came that the French were out, the British were immediately after them on a northerly course. At dawn on April 9 the British van, under Hood, was close to de Grasse, who was forced to order his store-ships to make for Guadeloupe, sending two of his battleships to protect them. Hood was soon in action with the French rear, and his position was awk ward in that he only, of the English, had made the Saints passage, the centre and rear being becalmed under the lee of Dominica. De Grasse was thus in a position to attack him with all his force, but he merely cannonaded his enemy from a distance. The Brit ish van suffered enough to make it necessary subsequently for it to change places with the rear, under Drake, but the arrival of Rodney caused de Grasse to withdraw, and the French battleship Cato was put out of action.
During the ensuing night and day the French gained somewhat and seemed likely to get clear away, but on the night of the loth two battleships, the Jason and the Ze/e, collided and the former was so seriously injured that de Grasse had to part with her. It would have been better for him had he dispensed with the Ze/i also, for on the iith she fell far behind the rest of the fleet, and it became clear that she would fall a victim to the British unless de Grasse turned to help her. This he did ; and thus a general action was joined on April 12, the French by then having only 3o effective ships. The two fleets approached one another on
opposite courses with the wind from the east ; the British were sailing roughly north and the French south, the latter being the nearer to the wind. The fight began early, and by io o'clock the moment for the British to get on the same course as the French had arrived.
Rodney, however, never issued orders to this effect for, at this juncture, the wind shifted four points to the south. This meant that gaps appeared in the French line, and, more important, the English could turn to starboard and sail through them. Rodney and his flag-captain, Sir Charles Douglas, both grasped the possibilities of the situation, and the former decided to risk it. There were no signals for the movement so, relying on the force of example, Rodney took his flagship, the Formidable, stationed in the centre, through a convenient gap in the rear of the French centre. He was followed by the five ships immediately astern, all raking the French as they passed. A similar movement took place in the rear. Captain Affleck, in the Bedford, passing through the head of the same French squadron, was followed by Hood with the entire British rear. The French were thus broken into three bodies, de Grasse, in the Ville de Paris, with other ships of the centre being isolated between the two points of intersection, and, after a gallant defence, captured.
Rodney's officers blamed him for not putting up a more ener getic pursuit, but he preferred to make sure of cutting the enemy off from their base. Actually the bad morale of the French, and the complete scattering of their fleet, rendered either alternative nugatory.
i. & (1907-1o) ; Geoffrey Callender, Sea Kings of Britain (1917) W. M. James, "The British Navy in Adversity" (1926).