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September 1628

With the failures of the two first fleets to relieve La Rochelle , Charles I king of England , ordered a new fleet to sail and relieve the city . The new fleet would be commanded by Robert Bertie , 1st Count of Lindsey and was 29 warships strong . 31 merchantships were also gathered to save the city from starvation .
Of course , the preparation for the operation was not a secret , and Cardinal Richelieu was aware of it almost at the time Charles I finished to give his orders .
With the spare time , Richelieu was able to gather nearly all his naval strength and prepare a trap for the Royal Navy . It was simple : use the shore artillery to defend the seawall and distract the English while the French Navy was coming from behind .
The resulting battle was extremely one-sided with 11 ships sunk for the English against 4 for the French . The remaining English ships were all captured at the great consternation of La Rochelle's inhabitants . The next morning , La Rochelle surrendered , having lost all hope of rescue .

The victory was a triumph for France , and of course for Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu . Founder of the French Navy , the naval victory gave him the prestige to develop the naval build-up he wanted . For him , this victory would soon be followed by others . As he would say to others nobles a few months later it was "Omen imperii maritimi "(the presage of the sea ): for its first great battle the navy had vanquised its foe .
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