Signal confusion frustrates Rodney off Martinique

Against the Comte de Guichen's twenty-three ships of the line, Rodney brought twenty and sought the weather gauge so he could envelop the French rear. An early signal directed an attack on the rear, but Captain Robert Carkett in Stirling Castle steered toward the French van and much of the British line followed. The battle became a conventional parallel engagement, allowing the French to close their formation and withdraw. A decisive British victory could have weakened the French fleet's ability to support the American Revolutionary War, so the missed concentration had consequences beyond the Caribbean action. Rodney's flagship Sandwich did pass through the French line, providing an earlier, limited example of line penetration. The failed concentration exposed weaknesses in signals, subordinate initiative, and officer selection.