"The naval battle of La Hogue is not much remembered now, but Winston Churchill described it as ‘the 17th-century Trafalgar'. Had the French defeated the Royal Navy, the exiled James II – who watched from the French shore – may well have reclaimed his throne, undone the ‘Glorious Revolution' and put Britain on a more absolutist, less commercial course.
Such was the relief when the news of Admiral Edward Russell's victory reached London in 1692, that Queen Mary (James' estranged daughter who, in a confected arrangement, reigned with her Dutch husband William of Orange), ordered that a new hospital be constructed for former seamen, to complement the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, built for army veterans by her uncle Charles II.
When Mary died of smallpox in 1694, William saw to it that her wishes were carried out. Sir Christopher Wren, the king's surveyor, commenced a masterplan and Nicholas Hawksmoor, his amanuensis and president of the Royal Society, was appointed his assistant…"
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Amicalement
Armand
builds a cutter and a corsair, both in 1/1200 scale.
