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The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a major naval battle of the French Revolutionary Wars fought on 14 February 1797 off Cape St. Vincent, the southeastern point of Portugal, between a British Royal Navy fleet and a larger Spanish Navy fleet. The battle was a decisive victory for the British, whose sailors were more experienced and better trained, allowing for more effective ship-handling during the battle. This enabled the British commander, Admiral Sir John Jervis, to outmanoeuvere the Spanish under Teniente-General Don José de Córdoba and inflict severe damage on the vanguard of the Spanish fleet. The damage to Spanish ships and morale was so significant that the Spanish fleet did not leave port again until 1799.
Battle of Cape St. Vincent | |||||||
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Part of the French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||
The Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February 1797, Robert Cleveley | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Great Britain | Spain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sir John Jervis | Don José de Córdoba y Ramos | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
15 ships of the line 5 frigates 1 sloop 1 cutter |
24 ships of the line 7 frigates 1 brig 4 armed merchantmen | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
73 dead 327 wounded |
4 ships captured 250 dead 550 wounded |
The battle came early in the Anglo-Spanish War, a conflict which had developed in 1796 from the Mediterranean campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. Formerly allies, Spain had declared war on Britain in October 1796 and sent a large fleet into the Mediterranean, forcing the weakened British Mediterranean Fleet under Jervis to withdraw to an anchorage at the mouth of the Tagus at Lisbon. From this position Jervis intended to blockade the main Spanish naval base of Cádiz. In early February 1797, Jervis met with reinforcements off Cape St. Vincent and was notified that the Spanish fleet had passed through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic. Jervis sailed in search of the Spanish and discovered Córdoba's fleet on the morning of 14 February. The Spanish, escorting a valuable convoy, had split into two groups, which when combined substantially outnumbered the British.
Jervis took his fleet in a line of battle between the two Spanish groups, causing the smaller group to withdraw as he focused his principal attention on the main battlefleet. Despite inept seamanship from much of the Spanish fleet which prevented Córdoba bringing his main force to bear, the Spanish fleet turned away from the British and seemed likely to escape with limited damage. However, an audacious manoeuvre against orders by the commander of the British rear division, Commodore Horatio Nelson, trapped the Spanish van division between Nelson and Jervis. With his ships pounded by the British cross-fire, the Spanish fleet retreated, leaving five damaged ships behind. Two of these ships were forced to surrender by Nelson, who led his men in a boarding action in which they charged across the deck of one Spanish ship and leapt onto the deck of another close alongside. Two others surrendered to the remainder of the British fleet, while the flagship Santísima Trinidad, the largest ship in the world, was badly damaged but able to escape British pursuit.
In the aftermath of the battle Córdoba fell back to Cádiz, where Jervis, now Earl of St Vincent, instituted a close blockade. Badly damaged and with morale shattered, the Spanish fleet did not sail again until the fruitless Croisière de Bruix campaign of 1799. In the meantime, St. Vincent was able to inflict severe damage on Spanish trade and send a fleet under Nelson back into the Mediterranean the following year. During the Mediterranean campaign of 1798 the Spanish remained inactive as the French Mediterranean fleet was destroyed at the Battle of the Nile and the Royal Navy seized control of the Mediterranean. This granted Britain a dominant position in the region which they retained for the rest of the war and throughout the Napoleonic Wars which followed.