One of a set of four watercolours of this action (PAH9527-9530) in which Admiral Sir George Rodney, as commander-in-chief in the West Indies in the 'Formidable' at the end of the War of American Independence, intercepted the French fleet of the Comte de Grasse sailing from Martinique for a projected invasion of Jamaica. After a skirmish up the west coast of Dominica, the French were trapped between the east wind and the off-lying rocky islets to the north called the Saints (Les Saintes). A line action ensued on opposing courses, during which a shift of wind forced the French to bear away and allowed Rodney's ships to pass through their line in several places with devastating effect. It was the first occasion on which 'breaking the line', albeit partly accidentally achieved, gained the tactical credibility it afterwards enjoyed. Rodney - who was not in good health - did not press his advantage as much as Hood, his infuriated second-in-command, urged him to but it was still a notable victory. This was above all for its political effect in the peace negotiations that shortly afterwards ended the war. For while these confirmed Britain's loss of thirteen of her American colonies, Rodney had secured British dominance against the French and Spaniards in the West Indies, a far more important source of colonial wealth. Hood, in the 'Barfleur', took the surrender of de Grasse in the 'Ville de Paris', but she and other prizes were subsequently lost in a catastrophic hurricane of September 1782, en route for England. All four of the drawings, none inscribed or dated, were purchased for the Museum by Sir James Caird through Dunthorne's from a Hodgson's sale of 14 January 1932. Exhibited: NMM Pocock exhib. (1975), no. 69, with the others of the set. [PvdM 10/08]