Late Thirteenth & Fourteenth Century
Channel Islands Raids
1295 - French galley squadron raided the
Channel Isles burnt part of Dover and raided Hythe and Winchelsea.
1336 - Scots ships were active in the channel raiding the Channel
Isles and taking prizes off the Isle of White
1338 - 24th March French Galleys burnt Portsmouth and moved on to raid
Jersey
(the French galleys were based in the purpose built 'close des gallees' at Rouen, in 1336 there were eight large and five
smaller galleys at Rouen and twelve in the Med that were transferred north)
1338 September 20 Genoese galleys (French ally/mercenary led by Ayton Doria) (possibly with further 17 under Carlo Grimaldi from Genoese Monaco) took Guernsey
1339 - March, Grimaldi failed to take Jersey
reinforced Guernsey and rounded La Rochelle to take Bourg and Blaye. At the same time Doria
destroyed Hastings and attacked Plymouth.
1339 - English fleet finally at sea under Lord Morley, In July
Franco-Genoese squadrons attempted a raid on the cinque ports. Driven off
from Sandwich and caught at Rye by Morley's fleet they escaped but Doria's men mutinied and sailed for home with one of Grimaldi's galleys.
1340 - After Sluys
the English fleet was mobilised to support the siege of Castle Cornet and so
the French were able to raid Southern England
1341 - the War of Breton Succession (1341-62)
the English should have had the advantage but their navy was slow to gather and
unreliable and the French/Genoese (with Castile in unofficial support) had
excellent bases in La Rochelle and Guernsey.
1342 - Ayton Doria with three galleys and 29
ships fought 46 English ships off Guernsey
1345 - The Bayonne galleys retook Guernsey
1346 - Crecy