Howe's experience and the British command bench

Howe had served in the Navy for fifty-four years and, at sixty-eight, remained on deck through roughly six days of the campaign with almost no sleep. Villaret-Joyeuse's formal entry into the French Navy in 1778 understates his experience: he had volunteered in 1768 and become an acting lieutenant in 1773. He nevertheless had substantially less experience than Howe. The British fleet also had four rear admirals and two vice admirals alongside its commander, compared with three French rear admirals. That larger group gave British divisions more experienced leadership and more officers able to assume command after casualties.