Naval battles of La Naval de Manila

Holy figure of La Naval de Manila

The naval battles of La Naval de Manila were a series of clashes between the naval forces of Holland and Spain from March to October 1646 in the waters of the archipelago of the Philippines . There were five sea ​​battles , a sea blockade and a battle on land

The sea battles were connected with the attempt by the Dutch to get the Philippines under their control at the end of the Eighty Years' War and to replace the Spanish sovereignty over the archipelago. The invasion of the Philippines was successfully repulsed by the Spanish-Philippine armed forces, although the balance of power was in favor of the Dutch. The Spanish success was dedicated to the patron saint of the Spanish-Philippine armed forces, Mary of Victory , who is venerated in the Philippines as La Naval de Manila to this day. In 1652, the Roman Catholic Church declared the outcome of the battles to be the miracle of La Naval de Manila.

prehistory

Since the year 1600, Dutch pirates have invaded the waters of the island archipelago time and again. The first was Olivier van Noort , who reached the Philippines with two ships and entered the Bay of Manila . The Spaniards hurriedly equipped two galleons and drove towards the Dutch ships. On December 12, 1600, a sea battle broke out off the island of Fortune , west of Nasugbu , in which a Dutch galleon, van Noort's flagship, the Mauritius, was heavily damaged and the Spanish galleon San Diego sunk.

Further Dutch pirate trips took place in 1609 under Francois de Wittert and in 1616/17 under Joris van Spilbergen , but they could be repulsed by the Spanish armed forces. In 1640/41 three Dutch galleons blocked the San Bernardino Strait to intercept the annual Manila galleon . However, the Spaniards were able to divert the galleon.

Balance of power

The Dutch force consisted of 18 galleons, which were divided into three squadrons . The fleet was commanded by Maarten Gerritszoon de Vries . The first squadron consisted of five galleons, which had the order to cut off the areas of what is now the Ilocos region from the rest of the country and to interrupt trade with China . The second squadron consisted of seven galleons; its mission was to capture Zamboanga and then block the San Bernardino Strait to intercept the Manila galleon. The third squadron consisted of six galleons and was assigned to block trade with Ternate .

The Spanish armed forces initially consisted of two galleons, the Rosario and the Encarnacion. Later in July, they were reinforced by the San Diego, but this had many technical difficulties so that it largely acted as a reserve. The exact number of troops, cannon armament, etc. of both sides is not known. All that is known of the Spanish ships is that they had cannon armament between 30 and 34 cannons of various calibres.

course

Attack on Zamboanga Battle of Bolinao Ticao Sibuyan lake Mindoro Calavite Street Mariveles

Distribution of combat operations in the naval battles of La Naval de Manila

Battle of Bolinao

The first meeting of the two armed forces took place on the afternoon of March 15 off the coast of the municipality of Bolinao between the two Spanish ships and the first squadron of the Dutch. In the four-hour clash, the five Dutch ships were damaged by several hits and the battle ended at nightfall. According to the Spanish reports, the Dutch squadron withdrew north. The Spanish ships chased them to Cape Bojeador, the northwestern cape of the island of Luzon . The Spanish ships received few light hits with little damage during the battle and few were injured. The damaged ships were then repaired in the port of Bolinao.

Attack on Zamboanga

The second squadron of the Dutch reached the Philippine waters in mid-April and attacked a garrison on the island of Jolo . However, the Dutch found that this had previously been abandoned by the Spanish. The next target of the Dutch attack was the Fort Pilar in Zamboanga . The Spanish concentrated their troops in Zamboanga, after the arrival of the Dutch the galleons shelled the city and the fortress. After the bombardment, the Dutch deployed ground troops to take the fortress. However, this attack was repulsed by five Spanish and two Filipino companies . The Dutch lost about 100 men in this battle and gave up the plan to take Fort Pilar because they judged the resistance of the Spanish Filipino troops to be too strong.

Ticao sea blockade

After the first sea battle off Bolinao, the two Spanish ships drove to the port of San Jacinto , on the island of Ticao , to await the arrival of the Manila galleon San Diego, which was scheduled for July 21. After the fighting for Zamboanga was broken off, the Dutch ships gathered and headed for the San Bernardino Strait to intercept the Manila galleon. The Dutch reached the sea area in mid-June. In addition to the seven galleons, they were accompanied by 16 launches . They sent their smaller ships out to scout and discovered the presence of the Rosario and the Encarnacion in the port of San Jacinto. Maarten Gerritszoon de Vries decided to lock the Spanish ships in port on June 23rd. During the siege, there were minor skirmishes between the Dutch at sea and the Spanish on land. The Dutch tried several times to penetrate the port with their barges, but were prevented from doing so by artillery fire from Spanish-Filipino ground troops. On the 30th day, several Spanish brigantines broke through the blockade, and on the 31st day of the siege, the Dutch broke it off, probably assuming that the Manila galleon had already passed the sea area, and sailed towards Manila . The two Spanish galleons immediately followed the Dutch.

Battle of the Sibuyan Sea

The Spaniards sighted the Dutch again on July 28, pursued them and caught up with the ship's formation on the morning of July 29 near the islands of Marinduque and Banton in the Sibuyan Sea . The Rosario fell back further, while the Encarnacion attracted the attention of the Dutch and was surrounded by them. The Dutch focused their fire on the Encarnacion but scored few hits. The Rosario approached the Dutch from behind, was able to maneuver freely and opened fire on the Dutch galleons. The Dutch wanted to board the Encarnacion. However, the Spaniards knew how to prevent this and, after cutting the boarding lines, fired a broadside at the Dutch galleon from a very short distance. The Dutch ship exploded, tearing the entire crew with the exception of one man to the seabed. The Dutch then broke off the battle and withdrew towards the island of Mindoro . The surviving Dutchman was rescued and imprisoned by the Spanish.

Battle of Mindoro

The next battle took place just two days later off the east coast of Mindoro Island . The Spaniards placed the Dutch fleet in the north of the Tablas Strait , between Mindoro and the island of Maestro de Campo, and went back on the offensive. The exchange of fire began at a greater distance. The Dutch decided to use a galleon as a battery ship, which was accompanied by some barges. The Spanish musketeers on both Spanish ships shot themselves at the crews of the launches as they came within range while the artillery shot at the Dutch galleon. When the ship got between the Spaniards, it received several direct hits and sank with the entire crew. The remaining Dutch ships of the second squadron withdrew to Batavia after the defeat.

Arrival of the San Diego

Spanish galleon

The Manila galleon San Diego only reached the Philippines in early September. The ship passed the San Bernardino Strait without any problems and reached Manila Bay a few days later. On the passage from Fortune, the Spaniards sighted three Dutch galleons that belonged to the third squadron of the invasion fleet. At that time, the Spaniards in Manila did not yet know of the presence of the third squadron in Philippine waters. When the Dutch spotted the San Diego, they went into chase to bring them back. However, the San Diego escaped capture and fled to Cavite Harbor . The commanding officer of the San Diego, General Cristoval Marquez de Valenzuela, briefed the authorities; these mobilized troops to defend the port. On the orders of the Governor General of the Philippines, the San Diego was converted into a warship after this event. The Spanish fleet now consisted of three galleons, one galley and four brigantines.

Battle of Calavite Street

On September 16, the Encarnacion and the Rosario sailed to Fortune Island, but could not find the Dutch ships. They drove on towards Mindoro and the Lubang Islands . They found the three Dutch galleons west of the Lubang Islands on the Calavite Strait . The battle between the ships began around four in the afternoon. However, the Spaniards had the wind against them, which put them on the defensive. The Dutch managed to surround the Rosario, but received few hits. The Encarnacion navigated outside of the circle and eventually forced the Dutch to retreat towards Cape Calavite.

Battle of Mariveles

The last meeting took place on October 4, 1646 off the coast of the village of Mariveles off the southwest coast of the Bataan Peninsula . The Encarnacion and the Rosario operated independently, and the San Diego, galley, and four brigantines remained behind the two as reserves. The three Dutch galleons attacked the two Spanish immediately, and a four-hour sea battle developed. The Encarnacion covered the Dutch with a hail of missiles, and the commander sent the galley forward to attack the Dutch lead ship. This inflicted severe hits on the lead ship, so that the Dutch broke off the battle at sunset and disappeared into the darkness.

losses

According to Spanish information, the Spanish-Philippine armed forces lost only 15 men during the entire battles. The Dutch probably lost more than 500 men, three galleons and several smaller ships.

Web links

• History of the Philippines with a description of the Dutch invasion
• Opinion La Naval de Manila on Inquiere Net (English)
• The La Naval De Manila, 1646 (English)