On 6 February 1806 a British squadron of seven ships of the line bore down on a French squadron of five they had just surprised and which were running before them off San Domingo. In a two-hour fight the British took or destroyed them all in the last significant battle of the great naval Armageddon that had raged with short intermissions over the previous six decades since the dismal (for the British) battle of Toulon in 1744. The one British officer to distinguish himself off Toulon was Captain Edward Hawke, and Hawke went on to become the most successful British admiral of the 1739–48 and 1756–63 wars. The British commander at San Domingo in 1806, Vice-Admiral Sir John Duckworth, was the last active admiral to have served under Hawke. As an 11-year-old captain's servant he had the rare distinction of participating in the 1759 ‘year of victories’ – both in Boscawen's victory at Lagos and Hawke's crushing triumph at Quiberon Bay. In the 1778–83 and 1793–1801 wars Duckworth served under two admirals, Howe and St Vincent, who played leading roles in trying to restore the British naval supremacy established in 1759. In 1799 he served under Nelson who finally re-established it.