First naval battle off Algeciras

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First naval battle off Algeciras
Algesiras.jpg
date July 6, 1801
place Algeciras Bay
Exit Franco-Spanish victory
Parties to the conflict

Great Britain kingdomKingdom of Great Britain Great Britain

France 1804First French Republic France Spain
Spain 1785Spain 

Commander

Great Britain kingdomKingdom of Great Britain James Saumarez

France 1804First French Republic Charles Linois

Troop strength
6 ships of the line 3 ships of the line
1 frigate
14 Spanish gunboats
Spanish coastal batteries
losses

121 dead
240 wounded
14 missing
HMS Hannibal captured
around 500 sailors from HMS Hannibal captured

306 dead,
280 to 500 wounded

The first naval battle off Algeciras was a naval battle as part of the coalition wars that took place on July 6, 1801 in the Bay of Algeciras . It was fought between a small French squadron, reinforced by Spanish coastal batteries and gunboats, and a nominally superior association of British blockade ships.

The French under Rear Admiral Charles-Alexandre Linois sought protection in the Bay of Algeciras with three ships of the line and a frigate . There they were attacked by six British ships of the line under Rear Admiral James Saumarez . Due to unfavorable wind conditions and the support of the French by the coastal batteries, the British could not play their superiority. After the British ship of the line Hannibal ran aground in shallow water and was unable to maneuver by concentrated fire, the British squadron withdrew. The Hannibal was raised by the French.

Only a few days later, on July 12, 1801, both sides met again in the Second Naval Battle of Algeciras .

prehistory

Napoleon Bonaparte's plan

In 1800 and 1801, Napoléon Bonaparte , First Consul of the French Republic , tried to relieve the French army in Egypt. Several attempts to regain naval dominance in the Mediterranean and to bring reinforcements to Egypt failed. The breakout of seven ships of the line from Brest with 4,000 soldiers on board failed in January 1801 after Admiral Ganteaume had to go to the port of Toulon twice and learned on the third attempt that a British invading army had already landed in Egypt. Another attempt to land 800 soldiers with two frigates failed on February 19, 1801, when the French frigate Africaine was captured by the British frigate HMS Phoebe in a frigate battle .

Napoléon now wanted to weaken the British position in the Mediterranean by questioning British naval supremacy in the Strait of Gibraltar . Its aim was to threaten the weak convoys that supplied Malta and the British Mediterranean Fleet. He thus intended to force Great Britain to use considerable forces to secure this strait. Rear Admiral Linois from Toulon was commissioned to reinforce the French and Spanish ships in Cádiz . His small squadron consisted of the three ships of the line Indomptable under Capitaine de vaisseau Moncousu, Formidable under Capitaine de vaisseau Lalonde (both with 80 cannons) and Desaix under Capitaine de vaisseau Christy-Pallière (with 74 cannons) and the 38-cannon frigate Muiron under Capitaine de frigate Martinencq. In Cadiz, the squadron was to unite with six Spanish ships of the line under the command of Vice-Admiral Don Juan Joaquin de Moreno .

Approach of the French squadron

On June 13, 1801 Linois left the port of Toulon with a course for Cádiz, which he believed only blocked by weak British naval forces. On July 1, 1801, the four French ships were sighted from Gibraltar while they were advancing against predominantly westerly winds. At that time, only the 14-gun Sloop Calpé was in the port of Gibraltar . On July 3, the French squadron succeeded in capturing the 14-gun Sloop Speedy under Commander Thomas Cochrane . At the same time, Linois found that Cádiz was blocked by seven British ships of the line. On July 4th he sailed around 10 a.m. at Cabrita Point and anchored at around 5 p.m. in the roadstead of Algeciras. His squadron could be seen there from Gibraltar at any time.

Preparations for battle

The English approach

NASA relief map of the Strait of Gibraltar (view from the Atlantic towards the Mediterranean Sea), on the left the European side with the Bay of Algeciras, to the west (front) lies Algeciras, to the east (back) you can see the Rock of Gibraltar.

The British squadron that blocked Cadiz consisted of the 80-gun ship of the line HMS Caesar under Captain Jahleel Brenton and the 74-gun ships of the line HMS Pompée under Captain Charles Sterling, HMS Spencer under Captain Henry Darby, HMS Venerable under Captain Samuel Hood, HMS Superb under Captain Richard Goodwin Keats, HMS Hannibal under Captain Solomon Ferris, HMS Audacious under Captain Shuldham Peard, and the frigate HMS Thames . Rear Admiral Saumarez had raised his flag on HMS Caesar .

At two in the morning on July 5, Saumarez received news of the arrival of the French squadron in Algeciras. At that time he had only six ships of the line off Cádiz, as the Superb was in front of the mouth of the Guadalquivir . The British squadron then set course for Algeciras. At dawn a boat arrived with the message that the French squadron was anchored in Algeciras. Saumarez dispatched the frigate Thames to brief HMS Superb and order it to block Cadiz.

At 8 a.m. on July 5th, Saumarez gave the signal to prepare for battle. The six liners initially made good progress in a moderate breeze from the northwest. Shortly afterwards there was no wind, a sign of the adverse weather conditions that should also prevail on July 6th. The squadron was led by the Venerable , because they wanted to make use of the commander's local knowledge. At 4 a.m. the squadron had reached Algeciras. At 7 a.m., the Venerable circled Cabrita Point and signaled that the French squadron was in sight. The approaching British squadron had also been seen on the French ships. The signal to attack was given on the British flagship Caesar .

Formation of the French and Spanish forces

Model of the frigate Muiron

To the south and north of the city there were two forts , and a gun battery (San-Iago) lay in front of the city, which were to defend the roadstead with their guns. Off the coast is the small island of Isla Verda , on which a battery with seven 24-pound guns lay. 14 Spanish gunboats were anchored in the port of Algeciras to provide additional support.

The French flagship Formidable anchored almost directly under the gun battery of San Iago, the Desaix was behind it. Again behind that was the Indomptable . The frigate Muiron anchored between her and the coast . The gunboats were split up to provide additional security for the squadron. Three gunboats were positioned 400 m southwest of Isla Verda, four between San Iago and the Formidable . The remaining seven gunboats were near the northern fort.

Course of the battle

Depiction of the course of the battle from 1837

At 7:50 a.m. the Pompée had sailed around Cabrita Point and there was again a temporary calm. Around 8 o'clock the Venerable sailed ahead of the Pompée and behind it the Audacious , while the British ships continued to approach the French squadron. The other three British ships were three nautical miles astern. At 8:30 a.m., the Pompée was at the level of Isla Verda and was fired at for the first time by all French ships from a long distance. The Pompée responded with a broadside each to the Desaix and the Formidable . At 8:45 am she dropped her anchor near the Formidable and opened fire on the latter, which warped closer to the coast and tried to increase the distance. The Audacious dropped anchor at 8:50 AM and the Venerable at 8:55 AM . The Audacious anchored near the Indomptable and the Venerable aft of the Formidable . This started a firefight between the three British ships of the line on one side and the four French ships, the Spanish batteries and gunboats on the other. After less than half an hour the Formidable ceased fire and the Pompée swung around so that she lay defenseless with her bow to the Formidable , and opened fire on the battery San Iago and the Spanish gunboats lying there with her starboard broadside. The Spanish defenders fought back and kept the fire going.

At 9.15 a.m. the Caesar reached the scene of the battle, and Rear Admiral Saumarez gave the signal to anchor. The Caesar cast anchor ahead of the Audacious and opened fire on the Desaix . Five minutes later the Hannibal anchored . Only the Spencer couldn't get any closer, as she was making little headway; it remained outside the actual combat area and was taken as a target by the Spanish batteries.

Shortly after 10 a.m., the Hannibal received the order to attack the Formidable in support of the Pompée . She then cut her anchor rope and tried to set course for the Formidable . She ran aground around 11 a.m., within calling range of the Formidable . In this situation, they distributed their gunfire: the front guns fired at the Formidable , the others fired at the Fort Torre del Almirante, the battery of San-Iago and the gunboats. At the same time, the crew tried to get their ship afloat again.

The British ships of the line, meanwhile, tried to get closer to the French ships of the line. Thereupon Rear Admiral Linois gave the order to cut the anchors and to put the ships on the beach. The Indomptable stranded northeast of Isla Verda, the Desaix ran onto the beach directly in front of the city. The Formidable was drifting toward the beach on her port side.

Saumarez now tried to take advantage of this situation. He also gave the order to cut the anchors. Audacious , Venerable and Caesar approached the Indomptable , dropped new anchor and fired at the French ship of the line. Shortly before noon the Audacious sailed between the Caesar and the Indomptable . The Spencer , which was still far out, shot at the Spanish gunboats and Isla Verda. Meanwhile, parts of their crews were sent from the stranded French ships of the line to reinforce the Spanish coastal batteries.

The heavily damaged Pompée had to be towed out of the battle area and to Gibraltar by all available British rowing boats. The Audacious , who kept the Indomptable under fire, and the Caesar were shot at from Isla Verda with great success. For a short time, Rear Admiral Saumarez considered conquering Isla Verda with a landing command, but no boats were available for this. At around 1.30 p.m. Saumarez finally ordered the battle to be halted. The four still maneuverable British ships of the line weighed anchor and sailed out of the bay. The Spanish guns fired incendiary projectiles at the retreating British ships, causing smaller fires on board the Caesar and the Spencer .

The Hannibal was left stranded alone in the Bay of Algeciras. The foremast and mainmast had already been shot away. The fire from the Spanish coastal batteries and gunboats was now focused on the incapacitated ship. At around 2 p.m., the Hannibal painted the flag. The fire has stopped. At this point, many cannons on board the Hannibal were thrown out of their mounts and were unusable.

Result

The British squadron recorded a total of 121 dead, 240 wounded and 14 missing. No reliable figures are available on the losses suffered by France and Spain. According to various sources, up to 306 soldiers were killed and up to 500 wounded. The commanders of the French ships Formidable and Indomptable , Moncousu and Lalonde, had also fallen. The rigging and hulls of all French ships were damaged. Five Spanish gunboats were sunk and two were badly damaged. The fortifications on land were also damaged by the cannon fire of the British ships.

After negotiations on July 7, 1801, Capt. Ferris and his officers on leave of honor. The wounded seamen of the Hannibal were also brought to Gibraltar. Commander Lord Cochrane and his officers were also on leave from HMS Speedy to Gibraltar. Capt. Ferris was acquitted on September 1, 1801 by an Admiralty Court for losing the Hannibal .

Fiction reception

The battle and the subsequent second skirmish were processed by Patrick O'Brian in his novel " Course on Spain's Coast ".

literature

Web links