Sea battle at Cape St. Vincent (1780)

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Sea battle at Cape St. Vincent (1780)
Naval Battle of Cape St. Vincent, contemporary painting by Francis Holman. It shows the explosion of Santo Domingo and Rodney's flagship Sandwich in the foreground
Naval Battle of Cape St. Vincent, contemporary painting by Francis Holman . It shows the explosion of Santo Domingo and Rodney's flagship Sandwich in the foreground
date January 16, 1780
place in front of Cape St. Vincent , Portugal
output British victory
Parties to the conflict

Great Britain kingdomKingdom of Great Britain Great Britain

Spain 1506Spain Spain

Commander

Sir George Rodney

Don Juan de Lángara

Troop strength
18 ships of the line 9 ships of the line
losses

32 dead
102 wounded

Dead: unknown
Wounded: unknown
1 ship of the line sunk
6 ships of the line taken from the enemy
(2 later recaptured)

The naval battle of Cape St. Vincent took place on January 16, 1780 during the American War of Independence between a British Royal Navy fleet under the command of Admiral Sir George Rodney and a Spanish one under Don Juan de Lángara and ended in a British victory. It is also known as the Moonlight Battle because night sea battles were very unusual in the age of sailing ships. The theater of war was the marine area off Cabo de São Vicente (Portugal).

prehistory

Rodney had been given command of a strong naval force in December 1779 to bring reinforcements to Gibraltar, which was besieged by the Spanish and French, and to Menorca . His squadron consisted of 22 ships of the line , 14 frigates and smaller warships as well as a large number of supply ships of all kinds. Rodney set his flag on the 90-gun ship of the line Sandwich . On January 7, 1780, off Cape Finisterre , a convoy escorted to the Caribbean by a ship of the line and three frigates broke away from its association. The following day the British sighted a Spanish convoy of 22 ships and after several hours of hunting were able to capture the entire formation, which consisted of the Guipuscoana ship of the line with 64 cannons, some smaller warships and 12 transporters loaded with provisions and supplies for the Spanish fleet in Cádiz . Rodney sent the captured ships with an escort to Gibraltar and set out with the remaining 18 ships of the line in search of a Spanish formation comprising eleven ships of the line and two frigates, whose presence in the sea area off Cape St. Vincent (southwest Portugal ) prevented passing by Had learned about ships. De Langaras' fleet used to blockade Gibraltar, apparently unaware of Rodney's presence, was compounded by the loss of San Genaro (74 cannons) and San Justo (74 cannons), which were separated from their formation by a severe storm weakened.

Course of the battle

On January 16, the British, the Spaniards sighted around 13:00 in the southeast . Rodney had his ships form a line of battle and so sailed towards the Spaniards; De Langara, who was apparently completely taken by surprise when the enemy appeared, also ordered the formation of a battle line, but after realizing the superiority of the British, he gave the order to set all sails and flee south to Cadiz. Around 2 p.m. Rodney gave the order for a general hunt (i.e. the formation was disbanded), during which the British ships of the line gradually overtook the Spaniards because they had less vegetation in the underwater area due to the copper cladding of their hulls and were therefore faster.

Shortly after 4:00 p.m. Defense , Bedford , Resolution and Edgar opened fire on the Spaniards. Forty minutes later, the Santo Domingo (70 cannons) exploded just as the Bienfaisant approached it. There were no survivors. The hunt and the resulting one-on-one skirmishes continued through the night until around 2:00 a.m. the following day, with Rodney allowing the chase to continue despite concerns about the weather and the dangerous coastline. By then, the British had succeeded in taking six Spanish ships of the line, including De Lángara's flagship Fénix (80 cannons). Only the San Augustín and the San Lorenzo as well as the two frigates were able to escape when Rodney finally broke off the "hunt" due to the weather.

consequences

Although two of the prizes , the San Julián and the San Eugenio , were lost again as the crews managed to overwhelm the British commandos and regain their hands on the ships, the naval battle was a major achievement for the Royal Navy. The remaining four ships could be safely brought in and - with the exception of the Fénix , which was named Gibraltar - were taken over into the Royal Navy under their old names. The British casualties were only 32 dead and 102 wounded, the Spanish are unknown, but - due to the sinking of the Santo Domingo alone - several hundred dead and numerous prisoners. Rodney could now enter Gibraltar unchallenged, where he was given a triumphant reception. The success of Cape St. Vincent was not only important because it caused the Spanish Navy to suffer a loss of defeat and reinforcements could be brought through to Gibraltar, but also had a significant psychological effect - not only on the garrison of the besieged fortress, but also on the British public, which had seen little clear-cut successes of this kind during the American Revolutionary War. The dimension of success can be seen from the fact that until then, neither in this nor in the previous Seven Years' War, such a large number of enemy ships could be taken in a sea battle.

Ships involved

Great Britain

Spain

  • Fénix , 80 cannons (flagship) - taken by the British
  • Diligente , 70 cannons - taken from the British
  • Monarca , 70 cannons - taken by the British
  • San Augustín , 70 cannons
  • Santo Domingo , 70 cannons - exploded and sunk
  • San Eugenio , 70 cannons - taken, recaptured by the British
  • San Lorenzo , 70 cannons
  • San Julian , 70 cannons - captured, recaptured by the British
  • Princesa , 70 cannons - taken by the British

literature

  • William Laird Clowes: The Royal Navy. A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Vol. 3 . Chatham Press, London 1996, ISBN 1-86176-012-4 , pp. 448 ff. (Reprint of the London 1898 edition).
  • David Spinney: Rodney . Allen & Unwin, London 1969.
  • Peter Trew: Rodney and the Breaking of the Line . Pen & Sword Military Books, Barnsley 2006, ISBN 1-84415-143-3 .