Hawke's sustained blockade system

The blockade worked because a force of roughly thirty ships could keep about twenty-one or twenty-two on station while smaller groups sailed to Plymouth, refitted there, or returned. Merchant supply vessels travelled with those movements, bringing fresh vegetables, meat, and other stores under escort. Cleaning, exercise, and repair complemented victualling, producing the unusually healthy force described by naval physician James Lind. Hawke could retain ships due to rotate home when danger increased, giving him a reserve without abandoning the station. Before Quiberon Bay he held back ships that would otherwise have left, raising his force to twenty-four ships of the line against twenty-one French ships.