Basque Roads

British chart of the Basque Roads, 1757.

Basque Roads is a sheltered bay on the Biscay shore of the Charente-Maritime département of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north. The port of La Rochelle stands at the northeast corner of the roads, and the town of Rochefort is near the mouth of the Charente River to the south.

It is most famous as the site of the British naval victory over a French fleet at the 1809 Battle of Basque Roads. It was also subjected to a failed British attack on Rochefort in 1757 during the Seven Years' War

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "Basque Roads". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne. 

Coordinates: 46°02′31″N 1°12′32″W / 46.042°N 1.209°W / 46.042; -1.209