Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke

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Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, KB (February 21 1705 – October 16 1781) was a naval officer of the Royal Navy.

Born in London, he joined the navy in 1720, but did not see fighting until the Battle of Toulon in 1744. During the War of the Austrian Succession he was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1747 and in the same year captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the second battle of Cape Finisterre. In the Seven Years' War, Hawke replaced Admiral John Byng as commander in the Mediterranean in 1756.

He blockaded Rochefort in 1757 and in 1758 he directed the blockade of Brest for six months. Driven off station by a storm, the French fleet under Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans, took advantage and left port. On November 20 1759 he followed the French warships and during a gale he won a sufficient victory in the Battle of Quiberon Bay, when combined with Edward Boscawen's victory at Lagos, to remove the French invasion threat.

He then retired from active duty, and was given the honorary rank of Vice-Admiral of Great Britain in November 1765. He was made First Lord of the Admiralty in December 1766 and served until January 1771. He was made a baron in 1776.

Towards the end of his life he lived at Swaythling House, near Southampton, although he died in Sunbury-on-Thames. His memorial, depicting the Battle of Quiberon Bay, is in North Stoneham church near Swaythling.