Page "Battle of the Chesapeake" Paragraph 16

By 1: 00 pm, the two fleets were roughly facing each other, but sailing on opposite tacks.

In order to engage, and to avoid some shoals ( known as the Middle Ground ) near the mouth of the bay, Graves around 2: 00 pm ordered his whole fleet to wear, a manoeuvre that reversed his line of battle, but enabled it to line up with the French fleet as its ships exited the bay.

This placed the squadron of Hood, his most aggressive commander, at the rear of the line, and that of Admiral Francis Samuel Drake in the van.