Hawke rewrites signals for aggressive command

Hawke's fourteen ships of the line sailed from Plymouth in August 1747 with a new signaling system. He wanted captains to close aggressively with the enemy and gave that aim priority over rigid adherence to the Admiralty's line-of-battle instructions. The fleet spent roughly two months at sea practicing before the French convoy appeared. Hawke was also given detailed orders because of his relative inexperience in command. He later claimed not to have discovered their contents until after the victory, a claim treated here as a convenient way of avoiding restrictions on his interception.