Sea battle off Cape Passero
Painting by Richard Paton
| date | August 11, 1718 |
|---|---|
| place | Capo Passero (promontory and southernmost tip of Sicily) |
| output | British victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Antonio Castaneta |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 22 ships of the line, 7 smaller vehicles with a total of 1,444 guns, a crew of 9,000 | 23 ships of the line, 7 other larger ships, 6 frigates, 11 smaller vehicles with a total of 1320 guns, 9000 crew members |
| losses | |
|
500 men dead or wounded |
2,400 men dead or wounded, 3,600 men captured, ship losses: 10 ships of the line captured, 4 sunk, 4 frigates captured, 3 smaller ships captured, 6 sunk |
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The sea battle off Cape Passero (partly also Passaro) took place on August 11, 1718 as part of the quadruple alliance between a British and Spanish fleet . It ended with the almost complete annihilation of the Spanish fleet. The war, which had not yet been officially declared, was basically decided in favor of the Allies.
prehistory
The background to the war of the Quadruple Alliance was the Spanish attempt to regain the territories in Italy that had been lost to Austria by the Peace of Utrecht . This was promoted by Cardinal Giulio Alberoni as the actual head of Spanish politics. He systematically tried to restore the great power of Spain through economic reforms, a strengthening of the navy and the army. However, it failed to win the support of France and Great Britain. On the contrary, these two states formed an alliance in 1717 with the aim of preserving the results of the Peace of Utrecht.
A Spanish expeditionary army with the alleged goal of assisting Venice in the war against the Ottomans landed in Sardinia and occupied the island. Both France, the Netherlands and Great Britain sided with Emperor Charles VI. and concluded the Quadruple Alliance. The alliance went far to meet Spain in order to prevent war. These included the emperor's final renunciation of the Spanish throne, secundogenitures in Italy and the return of Gibraltar .
The Spaniards played on time in the negotiations. To put pressure on the Spanish side, a British fleet was sent into the Mediterranean. Admiral George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington , was charged with taking all appropriate measures to end the conflicts between Austria and Spain and to prevent hostilities. Should Spain take an offensive action, he was also authorized to use force.
In the meantime, the Spanish troops had taken Palermo and besieged Messina , which Byng learned of on Menorca . The British fleet sailed for Naples . There they took two thousand German soldiers on board so that they could strengthen the troops in Messina. The British fleet sailed south and arrived in the Strait of Messina on August 9th . Byng offered the Spanish general ceasefire negotiations in order to resolve the conflict through negotiations in the meantime. However, the offer was rejected.
course
On August 10, Byng learned that the Spanish fleet was at Cape Passero. The enemy fleet was sighted around noon. She was settled 6 nautical miles off the coast in battle order. In addition to ships of the line, it had fires , bomb ships and galleys . As soon as the Spanish fleet noticed the British, they tried to escape towards the open sea. The British fleet pursued the enemy all day long into the night.
On August 11, the two fleets were within range of each other. Six ships of the line, the galleys, fire engines and smaller units separated from the Spanish fleet to seek shelter in a port. Five British ships took up the chase. The vanguard of the British fleet began the battle around 6 a.m. A short time later, the center under Byng met the Spanish main power. There was no real battle in line, but numerous battles between individual ships. Around noon, the Spanish flagship was attacked by two British ships. This was supported by two other ships. The fight lasted two hours until the Spanish flagship dropped the flag. The English flagship was in combat with two Spanish ships. When they tried to withdraw, Byng chased them into the night in vain.
consequences
Overall, much of the Spanish fleet was captured or sunk, while there were no British ship losses. The British ships, which had chased the smaller Spanish ships at the beginning of the fight, also reported on August 18 that several ships had been captured or sunk.
Although war had not yet been officially declared, in retrospect it was a decisive victory. This weakened the Spanish fleet that had been newly created for the war. The imperial troops were subsequently able to recapture Sicily. In 1720 Spain had to make peace.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gaston Bodart: Military-historical War Lexicon , (1618-1905). Vienna 1908, p. 176
literature
- Hans Eggert Willibald von der Lühe (ed.): Military conversation lexicon. Vol VI Adorf 1837, p. 490
- Rudolph Rittmeyer: Naval wars and naval warfare in their world-historical development. With special consideration of the great naval wars of the XVII. and XVIII. Century. Berlin 1907