Editing Glorious First of June (section)

===Van squadron===
[[File:Pocock Glorious First of June1.jpg|thumb|''HMS ''Defence'' at the Battle of the Glorious 1 June 1794'', by [[Nicholas Pocock]]{{efn|Pocock had been an officer with the British Fleet at the Glorious First of June, serving aboard the repeating frigate [[HMS Pegasus (1779)|HMS ''Pegasus'']].}}]]

Although ''Queen Charlotte'' pressed on all sail, she was not the first through the enemy line. That distinction belonged to a ship of the [[Vanguard (military tactics)|van squadron]] under [[Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves|Admiral Graves]]: [[HMS Defence (1763)|HMS ''Defence'']] under Captain [[James Gambier]], a notoriously dour officer nicknamed "Dismal Jimmy" by his contemporaries.{{sfn|Gardiner|2001a|p=32}} ''Defence'', the seventh ship of the British line, successfully cut the French line between its sixth and seventh ships; [[French ship Orion (1787)|''Mucius'']] and [[French ship Tourville (1788)|''Tourville'']]. Raking both opponents, ''Defence'' soon found herself in difficulty due to the failure of those ships behind her to properly follow up.{{sfn|James |2002|p=158}} This left her vulnerable to ''Mucius'', ''Tourville'' and the ships following them, with which she began a furious fusillade. However, ''Defence'' was not the only ship of the van to break the French line; minutes later [[George Cranfield Berkeley]] in [[HMS Marlborough (1767)|HMS ''Marlborough'']] executed Howe's manoeuvre perfectly, raking and then entangling his ship with [[French ship Impétueux (1787)|''Impétueux'']].{{sfn|Padfield |2000|p=29}}{{sfn|James |2002|p=157}}

In front of ''Marlborough'' the rest of the van had mixed success. [[HMS Bellerophon (1786)|HMS ''Bellerophon'']] and [[HMS Leviathan (1790)|HMS ''Leviathan'']] were both still suffering the effects of their exertions earlier in the week and did not breach the enemy line. Instead they pulled along the near side of [[French ship Éole (1789)|''Éole'']] and [[French ship America (1788)|''America'']] respectively and brought them to close gunnery duels. Rear-Admiral [[Thomas Pasley]] of ''Bellerophon'' was an early casualty, losing a leg in the opening exchanges. [[HMS Royal Sovereign (1786)|HMS ''Royal Sovereign'']], Graves's flagship, was less successful due to a miscalculation of distance that resulted in her pulling up too far from the French line and coming under heavy fire from her opponent [[French ship Terrible (1780)|''Terrible'']]. In the time it took to engage ''Terrible'' more closely, ''Royal Sovereign'' suffered a severe pounding and Admiral Graves was badly wounded.{{sfn|James |2002|p=157}}

More disturbing to Lord Howe were the actions of [[HMS Russell (1764)|HMS ''Russell'']] and HMS ''Caesar''. ''Russell's'' captain [[John Willett Payne]] was criticised at the time for failing to get to grips with the enemy more closely and allowing her opponent [[French ship Téméraire (1782)|''Téméraire'']] to badly damage her rigging in the early stages, although later commentators blamed damage received on 29 May for her poor start to the action.{{sfn|James |2002|p=156}}There were no such excuses, however, for Captain [[Anthony James Pye Molloy|Anthony Molloy]] of ''Caesar'', who totally failed in his duty to engage the enemy. Molloy completely ignored Howe's signal and continued ahead as if the British battleline was following him rather than engaging the French fleet directly.{{sfn|Padfield |2000|p=24}} ''Caesar'' did participate in a desultory exchange of fire with the leading French ship ''Trajan'' but her fire had little effect, while ''Trajan'' inflicted much damage to ''Caesar's'' rigging and was subsequently able to attack ''Bellerophon'' as well, roaming unchecked through the melee developing at the head of the line.{{sfn|James |2002|p=155}}