By this time it was past six, and the enemy's van and ours were at too great a distance to engage, I perceived some of their ships stretching to the northward; and I imagined they were going to form a new line.

He wrote home to that effect to the Admiralty from Gibraltar whose governor refused to provide soldiers to increase the relief force. In 1754 Byng commissioned the building of the Palladian mansion Wrotham Park in Hertfordshire which remains in the family to this day. Before he could land any soldiers the French squadron appeared.

He was court-martialled and found guilty of failing to "do his utmost" to prevent Minorca falling to the French following the Battle of Minorca. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Vice-Admiral in 1747. Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a Royal Navy officer.