capturing that ship and then another. The battle at Quiberon proved to be the greatest English sea victory since Drake’s day, a triumph that confirmed Britain as a world power. “Give us Black Dick,” his sailors boasted, “and we fear nothing.” Now fifty, three years older than his brother William, he was esteemed as a pioneer in gunnery, amphibious tactics, and naval hygiene, including the careful scrubbing of decks and sailors’ togs. Even as a vice admiral he fussed over details—kedge anchors, medicos, spar lengths—
