Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke was born on February 21, 1705. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, (21 February 1705 – 17 October 1781) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As captain of the third-rate HMS Berwick, he took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. He also captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747. Hawke went on to achieve a victory over a French fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759 during the Seven Years' War, preventing a French invasion of Britain. He developed the concept of a Western Squadron, keeping an almost continuous blockade of the French coast throughout the war. Hawke also sat in the British House of Commons from 1747 to 1776 and served as First Lord of the Admiralty for five years between 1766 and 1771. In this post, he was successful in bringing the navy's spending under control and also oversaw the mobilisation of the navy during the Falklands Crisis in 1770.