John Byron expected to outnumber the French and ordered a general chase as their fleet left Grenada, sacrificing formation before confirming the tactical picture. The French held numerical superiority and better order, defeated the attack, and retained the island. Mahan's comparison with the British defeat at Beachy Head in 1690 is challenged on the grounds that Britain lost no ships and suffered fewer wounded than France. Failure to relieve Grenada nevertheless made the action a French victory. The intelligence failure raises a further problem: commanders need to understand the reliability and source of information before staking a fleet on it. An analogy with briefings about Enigma illustrates why the source can affect a commander's willingness to trust intelligence.
Notable Point · 1:58:41-2:02:27
Grenada and the danger of unverified fleet intelligence
Royal Oak's battle record shows how John Byron's unverified belief in numerical superiority turned a general chase at Grenada into a disordered attack on a larger French fleet.