Qualla: Battle of Bantry Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-bantry-bay en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:19 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/j/battle-of-bantry-bay-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Bantry Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-bantry-bay Battle of Bantry Bay: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-bantry-bay/ Photo credit Zairon, CC BY 4.0. For 144 years, England and France had not fought a fleet action at sea. That streak ended on 11 May 1689, a week before the formal declaration of the Nine Years' War, when 19 English warships under Admiral Arthur Herbert met 24 French vessels commanded by Francois Louis Rousselet de Chateaurenault in the cold waters off Bantry Bay. The stakes were not abstract. Somewhere on the Irish coast, the deposed King James II was counting on those French ships to deliver the weapons, supplies, and reinforcements he needed to reclaim the throne he had lost in the Glorious Revolution. If the English could stop the delivery, James's campaign in Ireland might collapse before it began.

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Image: Zairon | CC BY 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/j/battle-of-bantry-bay-wp/gc1j-battle-of-bantry-bay-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Bantry Bay: A King Without a Country https://qualla.com/battle-of-bantry-bay/ Photo credit K. Jähne, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 had been swift and bloodless in England, but its consequences were anything but settled. James II fled to France, where Louis XIV -- motivated by both Catholic solidarity and the strategic advantage of keeping William III occupied -- gave him money...

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Image: K. Jähne | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/j/battle-of-bantry-bay-wp/gc1j-battle-of-bantry-bay-a-king-without-a-country.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Bantry Bay: The Engagement https://qualla.com/battle-of-bantry-bay/ Photo credit Andrew Wood, CC BY-SA 2.0. Herbert's fleet had been at sea since early April, prowling off the Cork coast. He had left behind several ships whose crews had mutinied over unpaid wages -- an inauspicious start. The French sailed from Brest on 6 May with 24 warships, two frigates, fireships, and transports pa...

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Image: Andrew Wood | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/j/battle-of-bantry-bay-wp/gc1j-battle-of-bantry-bay-the-engagement.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Bantry Bay: What Victory Looked Like https://qualla.com/battle-of-bantry-bay/ Photo credit United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Public domain. Both sides claimed success. Chateaurenault withdrew to Brest on 18 May, seizing seven Dutch merchant vessels on the way home. Herbert limped to the Scilly Isles and then to Spithead via Plymouth, arriving on 22 May. William III, rather than punishing Herbert for his inconclusive ...

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Image: United Kingdom Hydrographic Office | Public domain

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/j/battle-of-bantry-bay-wp/gc1j-battle-of-bantry-bay-what-victory-looked-like.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Bantry Bay: The Wider War https://qualla.com/battle-of-bantry-bay/ Photo credit Ben Brooksbank, CC BY-SA 2.0. With his French supplies secured, James began the Siege of Derry, hoping to crack open communications with Jacobite forces in Scotland. Three French frigates under Captain Duquesne were assigned to support him, and they proved effective -- in July, Duquesne captured two small Sco...

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Image: Ben Brooksbank | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/1/j/battle-of-bantry-bay-wp/gc1j-battle-of-bantry-bay-the-wider-war.mp3 0:06 5 full