The Battle of Cape Finistere

Admiral Veonneuve held the advantage in numbers, 20 ships of the line versus just 15. But he didn't want a major engagement either. The journey from the caribbian had been very hard on the combined fleet. For hours, french, spanish and british ships blundered into one another almost at random. Finally, after five hours of confused, slow motion battle, admiral calder sent out the order to break off contact. It took over an hour for every british ship to actually receive the message. Admiral villeneuve did not press the engagement, and by midnight, the firing had stopped. Only just two spaniard ships of the