a proclamation was issued to
commence hostilities against Spain, in consequence of the hostile
attitude that country had assumed. The first Spanish ship captured
during the war was taken by the _Pearl_, of 32 guns, commanded by
Captain George Montague, during a cruise off the Western Islands. After
an action which lasted from half-past nine till half-past eleven, she
struck, and proved to be the _Santa Armonica_, a Spanish frigate of 32
guns and 271 men, 38 of whom were killed and 45 wounded. The _Pearl_
had 12 killed and 10 wounded.

Admiral Byron, though a gallant officer, appears always to have been
unfortunate. In the last engagement which took place while he commanded
the British fleet on the American station, Comte D'Estaing managed to
pass him and escape after severely mauling his ships, when 103 men were
killed and 346 wounded, though the French loss amounted to 1200 men
killed and 1500 wounded.

At this time the want of active flag-officers was severely felt.
Promotions were exceedingly slow, so that it was not until officers were
nearly superannuated that they attained to that rank. The junior
captain promoted in 1779 to the rank of rear-admiral was Sir John
Lockhart Rose, who had been twenty-three years on the list of
post-captains. Others had been a still longer time.

The French ships also had a great advantage in being coppered, besides
which, though respectively carrying the same number of guns as the
British, they were much larger vessels.

Among the actions fought at this time, one deserves especially to be
noticed. It ended disastrously to the English flag; although nothing
could exceed the gallantry displayed by British officers and seamen on
the occasion. Captain Richard Pearson, commanding the 44-gun ship
_Serapis_, in company of the armed 22-gun ship _Countess of
Scarborough_, Captain Thomas Piercy, was escorting the Baltic Fleet,
loaded with naval stores, which were at that time of especial
consequence to supply the dockyards, left almost destitute of them. The
_Serapis_ was one of a remarkably bad class of ships, worse even than
the two-decked 50-gun ships. She measured 886 tons, and her armament
consisted of 20 long 18-pounders on the lower-deck, 22 long 12-pounders
on the main-deck, and 2 long 6-pounders on the forecastle, making in all
44 guns. These guns she carried on two decks, but the lower-deck ports
were so close to the water's edge that it was dangerous to open them in