Federico Carlos Gravina

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Federico Gravina

Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoli (born September 12, 1756 in Palermo , Kingdom of Naples , † March 9, 1806 in Cádiz , Spain ) was a Spanish admiral during the coalition wars .

Life

He was born in 1756 (according to other sources as early as 1747) to Don Giovanni Gravina y Moncada, Principe di Montevago, Duca di San Miguel and Doña Leonora Napoli Monteaporto, daughter of Principe di Resetena.

His family came from the old nobility of Sicily , which was then part of the Kingdom of Naples and was ruled by a Spanish Bourbon dynasty. As the son of one of the grandees of Spain, all doors were open to him in the military, and the future Prince of Gravina was considered the natural son of King Charles III during his lifetime . (and thus as half-brother of the later kings Charles IV of Spain and Ferdinand I of Naples ). When Charles, who had initially been King of Naples, became King of Spain in 1759, Gravina went with him to Spain.

With the help of his uncle, the Neapolitan ambassador to Spain, he joined the Spanish Navy in 1768 at the age of 12 as a naval squire. In 1775 he passed the exams in mathematics, geography, cosmography and foreign languages ​​and was retired as an ensign in the department of Cadiz and promoted to frigate lieutenant on March 2, 1776 . On board the frigate Clara he took part in the Spanish-Portuguese naval war on the coast of Brazil in 1776/1777. During this war he took his first command in the handover of the Ascensión Castle, near the island of Santa Catalina. In 1779 and 1782 Gravina took part in unsuccessful sieges of Gibraltar , and he was also involved in the attempt to recapture the island of Menorca. On board the ship of the line Santisima Trinidad (130 cannons) he fought in 1782 in the naval battle at Cape Spartel against the English under Lord Howe . In 1783 he took command of the frigate Juno and took part in several punitive expeditions against Algerian pirates. In 1784/85 he distinguished himself in the operation against Algiers , under Antoni Barceló , and then covered the coast of Spain with two frigates against the attacks of the barbarian states .

In 1793 he commanded a division of the fleet under Admiral Langara and took as an ally of the British under the command of Admiral Hood , the expedition against Toulon with. During this time he also visited Portsmouth to study British naval tactics. On his return to Spain he was appointed commander of a fleet of four ships, with the San Hermenegildo (112 cannons) serving as his flagship . In 1794 he saved Rosas Castle , which was attacked by the French, and was appointed Contreadmiral for it. From December 1795 he fell out of favor for a long time and was imprisoned until in 1802 he was given supreme command of the Spanish fleet that sailed with the French to recapture Santo Domingo .

In 1804 he served as the Spanish envoy in Paris. However, he had only assumed this position on the condition that he could return to the military immediately if war broke out again. During his time in Paris he took part in Napoleon's coronation as emperor and developed close relationships with the French naval minister Denis Decrès . Gravina played an important role in the negotiations on the Franco-Spanish Assistance Pact, which handed Spain's navy over to Napoleon. For his services, King Charles IV appointed him Commander in Chief of the Spanish Navy. Gravina returned to Cádiz and hoisted its flag on the Argonauta (80 cannons) in February 1805 . In July 1805 he commanded an escadre , which went off with the French fleet under Admiral Villeneuve to Martinique and was intercepted on the return journey by an English fleet under Calder on July 22, 1805 off Cape Finisterre , where Gravina lost two of his ships.

On October 20, 1805, under the command of Admiral Villeneuve, he led the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar against Admiral Nelson . On his flagship Principe de Asturias (112 cannons) he was attacked by three British ships at the same time. His left arm was shattered, he managed to collect about ten ships from the English ring and retreat to Cádiz. In November 1805 he was appointed admiral of the fleet. Gravina died in March 1806 as a result of the injuries sustained at Trafalgar, he was buried on the Panteón de Marinos Ilustres in Cádiz.

The French admiral and naval historian Jurien de la Graviére later praised Gravina as a zealous, loyal and intrepid officer of simple demeanor and chivalrous character.

In 1792 Jacinto Caamaño named an island in the Alexander Archipelago after Gravina.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federico Carlos Gravina . In: Universal Lexicon of the Present and Past . 4., reworked. and greatly increased edition, Volume 7:  Gascognisches Meer – Hannok , self-published, Altenburg 1859, p.  564 .
  2. ↑ Katharina Kellmann: Admiral Gravina and the end of the Spanish fleet. Retrieved on May 20, 2019 (German).
  3. ↑ Jurien de la Graviére : Nelson and the naval wars of 1789 - 1815 , page 272. Carl B. Lorck, Leipzig 1847

literature

  • William Stewart: Admirals of the World - A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present , 60--60. McFarland, Jefferson 2009

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gravina, Federico Carlos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gravina y Nápoli, Federico Carlos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish admiral
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1756
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo , Kingdom of Naples
DATE OF DEATH March 9, 1806
Place of death Cadiz , Spain