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On Monday, the 23rd, Vice-Admiral Rooke, with several men-of-war and fireships, was ordered to destroy the French shipping in the bay. The enemy, however, had hauled the vessels so close in shore that only small craft could approach them. The boats of the fleet were then got out, and, with the fireships, they burnt six French ships that night. The troops destined for the invasion of England assisted in the defence; and so shallow was the water into which some of the ships had been run that the French cavalry rode right down among the English and Dutch boats, and some of the troopers were actually pulled from their chargers by the seamen's boathooks. On the English side there was very little loss. On the following morning the boats were sent in again to complete the destruction, and the remaining six men-of-war were all fired. Several transports and storeships, which had taken refuge up a creek, were also given to the names; and the ex-King James, who witnessed the whole spectacle, experienced the mortification of seeing his hopes of an invasion of England, and of a re-acquisition of a crown, annihilated, and the finest ships of his only ally rendered for ever harmless. Until far into the nineteenth century the weather-worn ribs of some of those ships were still visible at low spring tides in the Bay of La Hougue. In March, 1833, numerous relics were recovered from the wreckage. They are now preserved in the Musee de la Marine in Paris.
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