detachment, and
failing contact with Chateaurenault, should have closed at once to the
strategical centre with his battle-squadron.

Meanwhile the home fleet, which Lord Torrington was to command, was still
unformed. It lay in three divisions, at the Downs, Portsmouth, and
Plymouth, while a considerable part of the promised Dutch contingent had
not made its appearance. It was a splendid chance for the French to seize
the command of the Channel before the concentration could take place and to
crush the British in detail. Accordingly, on June 13th, as soon as
Chateaurenault had arrived, Tourville put to sea with some seventy of the
line. The day before, however, Torrington, having hoisted his flag in the
Downs, had massed his two main divisions at Portsmouth, and by the time
Tourville appeared off the Isle of Wight he had with later arrivals, both
Dutch and British, about fifty-six of the line in St. Helen's Road. Not
knowing that the Toulon contingent had joined, he put to sea intending to
fight, but on discovering the great superiority of the French, he decided
in concert with his council of war to act on the defensive, and before
offering battle to endeavour to secure a concentration with Killigrew and
Shovel and the Plymouth division by getting to the westward. If he found
this course impossible without fighting an action, his plan was to retire
before Tourville "even to the Gunfleet," where amidst the shoals of the
Thames estuary he felt he would have a good chance of repelling an attack
with success. There, too, he counted on being reinforced not only by the
ships still at Chatham, but also possibly by ships from the westward which
might steal along the coast and join him "over the flats" by channels
unknown to the French. To fight as he was he considered to be only playing
the enemy's game. "If we are beaten," he said in communicating his plan to
the Government, "they being absolute masters of the sea will be at great
liberty of doing many things which they dare not do whilst we observe them
and are in a possibility of joining Admiral Killigrew and our ships to the
westward."

It was a plan conceived on the best principles of defence--waiting till the
acquisition of fresh force justified a return to the offensive. It is
further interesting as a pure case of naval defence, with no ulterior
object other than control of home waters. In the minds of the Government
there was no apprehension of any definite attempt to in