Naval battle of October 5, 1804

Naval battle of October 5, 1804

date	October 5, 1804
place	Atlantic Ocean , near Cape Santa Maria
output	British victory

Parties to the conflict
United Kingdom	Spain
Commander
Graham Moore	José de Bustamante
Troop strength
4 British frigates	4 Spanish frigates
losses
2 killed 7 wounded	3 Spanish frigates captured 1 Spanish frigate exploded 257 killed at least 50 wounded at least 900 prisoners

The naval battle of October 5, 1804 was a naval battle between units of the Royal Navy and the Spanish fleet in which the Spaniards suffered a complete defeat. A special feature of this battle was that it - with the aim of preventing or delaying the outbreak of war - was fought before the actual outbreak of war and thus contributed to the outbreak of war.

prehistory

After the Peace of Amiens in 1803 was characterized for the UK from that Spain again France support and Britain would declare war. However, the government in London learned that the Spanish government still needed money to mobilize the fleet again. As early as 1801, Spain had to sell part of its fleet to France in order to keep the other part of the fleet operational.

The British government also knew that the annual transport of funds from the Spanish colonies in Central and South America could provide the funds necessary to mobilize the Spanish fleet.

It was therefore imperative for Great Britain that this annual cash transport be secured or captured. The Spanish squadron left the port of Montevideo on August 9, 1804, heading for Spain.

The British government also knew how many ships took over the transport in 1804 in order to bring the money safely to mainland Spain. So the British Admiralty made some preparations. A small squadron was therefore assembled at the beginning of October 1804. Among other things, the 44-gun frigate HMS Indefatigable under Capt. Graham Moore, along with the 38-gun frigate HMS Lively , Capt. Graham Hamond, as well as the 32-gun frigate HMS Medusa under Capt. John Gore and HMS Amphion under Capt. Samuel Sutton off the Spanish coast in the period from September 29, 1804 up to. Gathered October 2, 1804. You should lie on the ship route to the port of Cádiz , as this would likely be the target of the Spanish treasure frigates.

The enemy ships

British ships	Cannons	Ship type	Spanish ships	Cannons	Ship type
HMS Indefatigable	44	frigate	Medea	40	frigate
HMS Lively	38	frigate	Fama	34	frigate
HMS Medusa	32	frigate	Clara	34	frigate
HMS Amphion	32	frigate	Mercedes	34	frigate

The British ships

The HMS Indefatigable was a so-called " Razée ". Originally built as a 64-gun ship of the line, she was rebuilt at the beginning of the coalition wars due to the lack of heavy frigates. After that, the HMS Indefatigable was listed as a 44-gun frigate with 26 24-pounder guns in the main deck and 14 12-pounder guns as well as six 42-pounder carronades on the forecastle and the aft deck with a crew of 330 in the Royal's ship lists Navy led.

The HMS Lively , however, was a 38-gun frigate of the Lively class with 28 18-pounder guns on the main deck and four 9-pounder guns and 14 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle and the aft deck, with a total of 46 guns on board.

The HMS Medusa and the HMS Amphion were 32-gun frigates of the Amphion class. Both had 26 18-pounder cannons on the main deck as well as six 6-pounder cannons and six 24-pounder carronades on the quarterdeck and the forecastle, each with 38 guns on board.

The Spanish ships

The Spanish squadron also comprised four frigates.

The flagship was the 40-cannon frigate Medea , which roughly corresponded to a British 38-cannon frigate, while the three 34-cannon frigates Fama , Clara and Mercedes corresponded to a British 36-cannon frigate.

The naval battle

On the morning of October 5, 1804, four strange sails were sighted on the British ships at dusk around 6 o'clock. The British frigate squadron immediately took up the hunt and set course for the unknown sails. At around 8 a.m., the unknown ships were identified as the expected Spanish squadron.

The negotiations and the battle preparations

After the Spanish frigates identified their counterparts as British frigates, they formed a combat formation. The went Fama in the lead, while Medea , Mercedes and Clara followed in keel line.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the British squadron approached the Spanish squadron at close combat range on a parallel course. The HMS Medusa lay next to the Fama , the HMS Indefatigable lay next to the Spanish flagship Medea , the HMS Amphion next to the Mercedes and the HMS Lively next to the Clara .

The Indefatigable tried several times to get the Spanish squadron and especially the Medea to shorten the sails. After no response, Capt. Graham Moore of Medea fired a warning shot across the bow. Only then were the sails shortened on the Medea and the Spanish squadron.

One of the officers of HMS Indefatigable - Lt. Thomas Arscott - Rowed to the Medea to convey his captain's orders to Rear Admiral Bustamante regarding the Spanish frigates. The Spanish rear admiral was informed that the Spanish squadron should be interned with the treasure - if possible without bloodshed. However, Capt. Moore to an immediate reply from Rear Admiral Bustamante.

After Capt. Moore had to wait for an answer and also for a signal to Lt. Arscott received no response, Capt. Moore fired another warning shot in front of the Medea's bow . Thereupon the dinghy returned with Lieutenant Arscott, who could only deliver Rear Admiral Bustamante's refusal. As a result, Capt. Moore changed the course of his ship to bring HMS Indefatigable in front of the Medea's bow .

The actual battle and the chase

When the HMS Indefatigable changed course, the Mercedes fired a broadside at the HMS Amphion . The Medea also opened fire on the HMS Indefatigable a few moments later . As a consequence, Capt. Moore set the signal to attack. All British frigates immediately returned fire on the Spanish frigates.

After nine minutes of close combat broadside against broadside, a preliminary decision was made: after a broadside of the HMS Amphion , the Mercedes exploded . Shortly afterwards the leading Spanish frigate Fama appeared to surrender.

After the Mercedes exploded and its remains disappeared from the surface, the HMS Amphion set more sails to attack the Medea, attacked by the HMS Indefatigable , from the starboard aft. After 17 minutes of firefight and the heavy broadsides of HMS Indefatigable and the emerging HMS Amphion , the Spanish flagship Medea surrendered .

This surrender was also noticed by the commander of the Spanish frigate Fama at the head of the formation. Although he might already have capitulated - by lowering the Spanish flag - the Fama resumed their Spanish national colors and tried to escape. Her British counterpart, the HMS Medusa , then sailed under the stern of the sailing away Fama and fired her broadside into the stern. However, the Fama stayed on course, which meant that the HMS Medusa now had to pursue the Fama . At the end of the battle line, HMS Lively and Clara continued to fight . The Spanish flag of the Clara did not lower until 22 minutes after the fire opened , and the Spanish commander handed over his ship.

Capt. Moore on HMS Indefatigable signaled to HMS Lively after Clara surrendered to pursue the Fama . Since the HMS Lively was still relatively undamaged and a good sailor, this order made sense. At 12:45 p.m., HMS Lively opened fire on the Fama with its bow-hunting guns. At around 1:15 p.m. the flag of the Fama lowered and the Spanish commander finally surrendered his ship.

The mutual losses

The toll of this battle varied widely.

On the British side, there were two dead and seven injured. Three of the wounded were recorded on HMS Amphion . The two dead and four wounded were reported on the HMS Lively . The two fallen on the Lively were caused by wreckage from the Mercedes.

On the Spanish side, 257 dead, at least 50 wounded and at least 900 prisoners were later recorded. There were two casualties and ten wounded on the Medea . Eleven men were killed and 50 injured on board the Fama , seven killed and 20 wounded on the Clara . Of the 280 crew and passengers of the Mercedes , 41 men could be rescued, two other passengers were on the Medea at the time of the battle . The survivors of the Mercedes were on the forecastle and far enough away from the source of the explosion. They were picked up by the Amphion's dinghies.

The Medea became the HMS Imperièuse , a 38-gun frigate. She performed a long service in the Royal Navy, including under Capt. Lord Cochrane. The Fama and the Clara were classified as 36-gun frigates, but only provided port service. The Fama was retired in 1812, the Clara in 1815.

The Spanish treasure

On board the Spanish squadron were merchandise such as high quality wool, pewter, copper, seal skins and seal oil.

The following were held in cash: 1,307,634 Spanish dollars in the Spanish crown, 1,859,216 dollars in silver, as well as 1,119,658 dollars in gold and 150,011 gold bars, were owned by others. The Mercedes lost 237 lives and $ 1,111,940 in silver on the ocean floor. The information about the value of this treasure differs between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 pounds sterling in the currency and value of that time (in today's purchasing power between 94.44 and 188.88 million pounds).

The prizes were first brought to Gibraltar and then brought to Great Britain. The following negotiations before the Admiralty's Prize Court in London led to the fact that most of the treasure was confiscated and not paid out (contrary to the payout after the naval battle of October 16 and 17, 1799 ) because Great Britain and Spain had not been at war. The British squadron was ultimately allocated £ 250,000 in prize money after some discussion by the Admiralty.

As late as December 1804, Spain declared war on Great Britain after a protest had had no effect on this incident.

Rediscovery of the Mercedes and trial

The listed American salvage company Odyssey Marine reported in 2007 that it had found a shipwreck with a large amount of gold. In 2011 an American court in Atlanta ruled that the wreck and the treasure that had been recovered in the meantime belonged to Spain. The court proceedings also confirmed that it was the Spanish frigate Mercedes, which sank in this incident in 1804 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Robert Gardiner: The Campaign of Trafalgar, 1803-1805 , pp. 110 ff.
2. ^ William James: Naval history of Great Britain , Volume III, 1837, pp. 280ff.
3. ^ Message from SPIEGEL Online from May 19, 2007, http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,483684,00.html .
4. ^ Message from SPIEGEL Online dated September 22, 2011, http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,787812,00.html .

Belletristic reception

The battle was processed by CS Forester in his novel " Hornblower on the Hotspur " and by Patrick O'Brian in " Enemy Sails ".

literature

• William James . Naval History of Great Britain . Volume III. London 1837. pp. 111-122. (Google Books, PDF)
• Robert Gardiner: The Campaign of Trafalgar 1803-1805 , Mercury Books London, ISBN 978-1845600082