The Battle of Hougue, the Royal Sun...
One cannot speak of the maritime museum of Saint-Vaast-La-Hougue without mentioning the 2nd and 3rd June 1692, and the naval battle that took place off its coast.
Let's put it in context... Louis XIV, nice, welcomed King James II of England, forced to abandon his throne, driven out by William of Orange's supporters. And, kind as ever, he also planned to help her regain her throne. And, unconscious like everything else, he set up a landing operation, straight away, on the English coast (Napoleon, who had the same idea for other reasons, should have known that it never worked!).
50 vessels are planned to carry out this operation, compared to the Anglo-Dutch fleet, which can line up 124 vessels. And, by the way, if they think they have to align so many, it's still good because he suspects they're definitely not as good as us... but, well, let's move on!
Our armada is led by Anne Hilarion of Costentin de Tourville, who, at 16, was already showing her bravery against the barbarians! And, indeed, throughout his career, full of battles, he was always recognized as intrepid... and particularly attentive to his grooming! He was a man who led a boarding party himself, but in lace!
In short, let us return to June 1692... as a result of certain incompetencies in the chain of command, and various delays (already!) he finally sailed towards La Hougue with only 44 ships, and equipped with perfectly inconsistent orders, which Louis XIV himself, very "fair play", would then recognize. The result was a heavy defeat and the most beautiful ships of the Royal Navy were sunk. Among them, we must mention "the Royal Sun", which also burns, broken, dismasted, but still firing!
Louis XIV, recognizing that Tourville could not do any better with the boats he had at his disposal, and with the orders he had, named him Marshal of France, and entrusted him, the following year, with a new fleet with which he managed to destroy two thirds of an English convoy of 148 boats! And knock it off!
The Maritime Museum of La Hougue, a distant consequence of the battle.
This museum, we reach it by boat... normal!
It is an unusual museum, as it was specifically created to display all the objects that have been found, coming from the boats sunk during the battle. It is quite rare to create a museum about a defeat, but the result is a fantastic historical and social panorama, all these objects showing how the men of the time lived, and, of course, especially the sailors.
By chance in history, it opened its doors on June 5, 1992, two days later, 300 years after the devastating days of the maritime defeat.
Since its opening, it has broadened its scope to include the history and maritime ethnography of the coasts of Lower Normandy, the technical, economic and social history of fishing and coastal development and use, and finally the natural history of the coastline, land flora and marine fauna and flora.
This museum, really, is well worth a trip by boat!
Musée maritime de Tatihou
Île Tatihou
50550 Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
Tél. : 02 33 23 19 92
https://www.manche.fr/tatihou/musee-tatihou-normandie-50.aspx
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