Twenty-four French ships of the line fought in the 1781 Battle of the Chesapeake.
The naval battle took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on September 5, 1781. A French fleet commanded by the Comte de Grasse confronted a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Thomas Graves. The French force had 24 ships of the line, while the British force had 19.
The French victory was strategically decisive because it prevented the Royal Navy from relieving or evacuating Lord Cornwallis’s army at Yorktown, Virginia. De Grasse’s fleet maintained control of the sea approaches, while French and American land forces surrounded the British position. Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
The battle is also called the Battle of the Virginia Capes or the Battle of the Capes. It was not a complete destruction of the British fleet; the opposing forces broke off after a roughly two-hour engagement. Its importance came from its location and consequences: without British naval access to the Chesapeake, reinforcements could not reach Yorktown in time.