Second naval battle off Algeciras

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Second naval battle off Algeciras
Combat du Formidable.jpg
date July 12, 1801
place Strait of Gibraltar
output British victory
Parties to the conflict

Great Britain kingdomKingdom of Great Britain Great Britain Portugal
Portugal 1707Portugal 

France 1804First French Republic France Spain
Spain 1875Spain 

Commander

Great Britain kingdomKingdom of Great Britain James Saumarez

Spain 1875Spain Juan Joaquin Moreno Charles Linois
France 1804First French Republic

Troop strength
5 British ships of the line
1 British frigate
1 Slopp
1 brig
1 Portuguese frigate 		5 Spanish ships of the line
1 Spanish frigate
4 French ships of the line
3 French frigates
1 French Lugger
ship of the line Hannibal flying the French flag
losses

18 killed
102 wounded

2 Spanish ships of the line exploded.
1 French ship of the line captured
at least 1721 dead,
at least 5 wounded
780 prisoners

Second coalition war (1799–1802)

The second naval battle off Algeciras was a naval battle in the Second Coalition War between England and Portugal on the one hand and Spain and France on the other. It ended in a British victory.

Background and reinforcement of the French squadron

After the defeat in the First Sea Battle at Algeciras on July 6, 1801, the British squadron withdrew to Gibraltar on the same day . The three French ships of the line Indomptable , Formidable and Desaix as well as the frigate Muiron remained in the bay of Algeciras . The 74-gun ship of the line Hannibal was stranded and handed over, now under the French flag.

As a first measure, Rear Admiral Linois had to pull his stranded ships of the line and the pinch of Hannibal from the beach and get them ready to sail. He alerted the Spanish admirals and the French rear admiral Dumanoir in Cadiz through a first messenger about his situation and the battle. Through a second messenger, he informed the commanders in Cádiz that he feared a fire attack on his ships.

It was only this strong urge on July 8th that moved Dumanoir to coerce the support of the Spanish Admiral Massaredo. On the same day Massaredo gave Vice-Admiral Moreno the order to prepare a Franco-Spanish squadron of five Spanish and one French ship of the line as well as two French and one Spanish frigates and one French lugger in the outer roadstead. This was observed by the HMS Superb , which at that time - together with the HMS Thames and the HMS Pasley - was lying in front of the port of Cádiz.

On the morning of July 9, 1801, the Franco-Spanish squadron set sail in Cádiz. The French liner Saint-Antoine initially did not follow the squadron. HMS Superb , HMS Thames and HMS Pasley sailed into the Strait of Gibraltar in front of the Franco-Spanish squadron. Around 3 p.m. the three British ships anchored in the roadstead of Gibraltar. Shortly afterwards, the French and Spanish ships from Cadiz anchored in the Bay of Algeciras.

On the morning of July 10, 1801, the Saint-Antoine also sailed into the Bay of Algeciras.

Meanwhile, the British crews in Gibraltar tried to get their ships of the line damaged in battle back into operation. The HMS Pompée was so badly damaged that all repairs were suspended for the time being. The HMS Caesar was also badly hit, so Rear Admiral Saumarez switched to the HMS Audacious and set his flag there. Only through the deployment of the crew could the Caesar be repaired by the morning of July 12, 1801.

Ships involved

The following ships belonged to the respective squadrons on July 11, 1801.

British-Portuguese squadron
  • Ship of the line Caesar (80 cannons) under Captain Jahleel Brenton
  • Ship of the line Audacious (74 cannons) under Captain Shuldham Peard
  • Ship of the line Spencer (74 cannons) under Captain Henry Darby
  • Ship of the line Superb (74 cannons) under Captain Richard Goodwin Keats
  • Ship of the line Venerable (74 cannons) under Captain Samuel Hood
  • Frigate Thames under Captain Askew Paffard Holles
  • Sloop Calpé under Commander George Heneage Dundas
  • Brig Louisa
  • Portuguese frigate Carlotta under Captain Crawfurd Duncan
French-Spanish squadron
  • Ship of the line Formidable (80 cannons) under Captain Troude
  • Ship of the line Indomptable (80 cannons) under Captain Touffet
  • Ship of the line Desaix (74 cannons) under the captain (Capitaine de vaisseau) Christy-Pallière
  • Ship of the line Hannibal (74 cannons) (Prize ship)
  • Ship of the line Saint-Antoine (74 cannons) under squadron commander Julien le-Ray
  • Frigate Indiane
  • Frigate Libre
  • Frigate Muiron
  • Lugger Vautour
  • Ship of the line Real-Carlos (112 cannons) under Don Esquerra
  • Ship of the line San Hermenegildo (112 cannons) under Don Emparran
  • Ship of the line San Fernando (96 cannons) under Don Malina
  • Ship of the line Argonauta (80 cannons) under Don Harrera
  • Ship of the line San-Augustin (74 cannons) under Don Jopete
  • Frigate Sabina

Course of battle

On July 12, 1801 around 1 p.m. - after the sails had been set at dawn - the French-Spanish squadron sailed out of the Bay of Algeciras. At 3 p.m. HMS Caesar passed the stern of the Audacious and raised the admiral flag again. At a signal from Caesar , the British squadron cleared for action.

As soon as the squadron had left the slipstream of Gibraltar, it was formed in the battle line over the port bow. At 7 p.m. the squadron was on the starboard tack. At about 7:45 p.m. the Franco-Spanish squadron was out at sea and had passed Cabrita Point.

At this time the Hannibal , which only led mast stems in place of its lower masts and which was towed by the frigate Indiane , returned to the Bay of Algeciras.

In the face of the expiring British squadron, Moreno changed flagship before Cabrita Point. Following a custom, he left his flagship, the Real-Carlos, and instead planted his flag on the Spanish frigate Sabina . Linois followed him there, who complied with the request of the Spanish Vice-Admiral and left the Formidable .

At around 8 p.m., the British squadron fell out of formation due to the different sailing characteristics of the ships during the hunt. At around 11 p.m. the Superb was three nautical miles ahead of the Caesar . At around 11:10 p.m. a Spanish three-decker, the Real-Carlos , was spotted on the Superb , port ahead. Shortly afterwards the San Hermenegildo and the Saint-Antoine were sighted on the port side . On the Superb , the sails were reefed, and at a distance of 275 m the Superb opened fire on the Real-Carlos with her port broadside . After the third broadside - with the Real-Carlos also losing its foremast leg - the Real-Carlos was on fire. Then the Superb stopped fire and settled down. Chaos remained as the Real-Carlos and the San Hermenegildo fired their cannons blindly. The Saint-Antoine also fired blindly into the night. Captain Keats directed them to the next destination.

The action now ran parallel: the attack of the Superb on the Saint-Antoine on the one hand and the events of the Real-Carlos and San Hermenegildo on the other.

At 11:50 p.m. the Superb opened fire on the Saint-Antoine . After a half-hour firefight, the Saint-Antoine ceased fire and surrendered. However, the flag could not be withdrawn because it was caught. This resulted in Caesar , Venerable , Spencer and Thames still firing into the Saint-Antoine . The Superb , Calpé , Louisa and Carlotta laid down next to the handed over Saint-Antoine . The rest of the squadron tried to maintain contact with the enemy squadron.

Meanwhile, held San Hermenegildo the real Carlos for an enemy ship and fires at her sister ship. At 12:15 a.m. the Real-Carlos exploded . The San Hermenegildo was also set on fire and exploded 15 minutes later.

The first phase of the battle was thus over by 12:30 a.m. On the British side, there were 15 wounded on board the Superb . On the two Spanish 112-gun ships of the line, around 1,700 men out of a crew of 2,000 had died, around 300 men escaped to other ships, but 250 men were taken prisoner. 530 men were taken prisoner with the Saint-Antoine . Accordingly, three ships of the allied squadron had failed, 1,700 men fell and 780 men were taken prisoner.

The Formidable under Captain Tronde in battle with the Caesar , the Venerable , the Superb and the Thames (after Ferdinand Victor Perrot )

Later that night a strong wind came up. On July 13, 1801, around 4 a.m., the Venerable and the Thames were at the head of the British squadron, hunting the Formidable .

At 5:00 a.m. the Formidable set her flag and revealed herself, and at 5:15 a.m. she opened fire on the Venerable with her rear guns . It was not until 5:20 am, when both ships were sailing broadside to broadside, that the Venerable returned fire. Up to 6:45 a.m., both ships fought a gun battle, which only ended when the Venerable could no longer keep up with blown masts.

At 8 o'clock in the morning the Venerable stranded on a reef twelve nautical miles from Cádiz. The Formidable continued to try to sail north and Cádiz before the pursuing British ships to reach. An order from Rear Admiral Saumarez that in the event of an action by the French and Spanish ships against the Venerable, they should leave and set on fire, turned out to be superfluous in view of the escape of the remaining ships of the coalition.

18 crew members were killed on board the Venerable and a further 87 were wounded. On the Formidable 20 men of the crew were killed or fatally wounded. A man fell on the Sabina and five were wounded. This ended the second phase of the battle.

Result and meaning

The British squadron succeeded in recovering the Venerable and bringing it to Gibraltar on July 14, 1801. The victorious British squadron was thanked by Parliament, Rear Admiral Saumarez became a Knight of the Order of Bath and received an annual pension of £ 1,200.

The Saint-Antoine was taken into British service as San-Antonio . After she was brought to Portsmouth, she never sailed the high seas again.

This battle was particularly outstanding because a battered armed force won a victory after only six days against an opponent who was now twice as strong and could thus thwart his plans.

Legends

It has often been stated that Captain Keats sailed with the Superb between the two Spanish 112-gun ships of the line and fired on both sides. This version, while popular, is wrong.

Belletristic reception

Patrick O'Brian immortalized the naval battle in his novel Course on Spain's Coast . However, O'Brian used the legend about Captain Keat's night attack. Alexander Kent adapted the transition of the commanders of the Franco-Spanish squadron to the frigate Sabina before the start of the battle in his books The Last Reef and Twilight Over the Sea . There the French admiral switched to smaller ships for a better overview.

literature

Web links