| Battle of Cape St. Vincent | |||||||
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| Part of the Eighty Years' War | |||||||
Naval battle between Spanish and Dutch warships. Oil on canvas, Naval Museum of Madrid. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Provinces Kingdom of Portugal |
Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Artus Gijsels Tristão de Mendoça |
Juan Alonso Idiáquez | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 20 Dutch warships, unknown Portuguese |
23 warships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 ships sunk 1 ship destroyed |
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The Battle of Cape St Vincent of 1641 took place on 4 November 1641 between a Spanish fleet commanded by Don Juan Alonso de Idiáquez y Robles and a Dutch-Portuguese fleet led by Artus Gijsels and Tristão de Mendoça during the Eighty Years' War and the Portuguese Restoration War. Four Dutch ships were completely destroyed and the rest, seriously damaged. Seeing the tactical superiority of the Spanish fleet, the Dutch-Portuguese decided to retreat. The Spanish officers tried to persuade Idiáquez to pursue the enemy fleet and finish them off entirely, but he preferred to return to Cádiz.
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In 1641, after the outbreak of the Portuguese Restoration War, the Portuguese government, with Dutch and French help, prepared to start the offensive against Spain at sea.[1] Dom Antonio Telles da Silva, who had fought the Dutch in India, was designated commander of squadron of 16 ships, which along of another 30 of the Dutch Republic under Artus Gijsels, was entrusted the mission of capture and hold the Spanish towns of Cádiz and Sanlúcar.[1] The attempts failed thanks to the fortuitous encounter that they had with 5 Dunkirkers under Judocus Peeters, who was chasing a flotilla of Algerian privateers, off Cape St. Vincent.[1] Peeters managed to reach Cádiz without lose a single vessel and put on alert Marquis of Ayamonte and Don Gaspar Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán, 9th Duke of Medina Sidonia.[2]
Gijsels and Telles returned to Lisbon, where Telles was replaced by Tristão de Mendoça, former Ambassador to the Dutch Republic.[2] A second sortie of the combined fleet was made shortly after in order to intercept and capture the Spanish West Indies Fleet between the Azores and Cape St. Vincent.[2] It was a hasty maneuver, since the Dutch ships had orders to return to their country if the West Indies Fleet didn't appear before November.[2]
The Spanish squadron of Galicia, under Don Andrés de Castro, the squadron of Naples, under Don Martín Carlos de Meneos, and the galleons of Don Pedro de Ursúa, were urgently gathered in Cádiz to intercept the Dutch-Portuguese fleet.[2] The military governor of Cádiz, Don Juan Alonso de Idiáquez y Robles, Duke of Ciudad Real, was appointed commander of the fleet in substitution of the Captain General, the Duke of Maqueda, who was ill.[3] He was a veteran soldier, having seen action in the Siege of Leucata against the French, but was unexperienced in sea battles.[3]
Gijsels-Mendoça's fleet was sighted off Cape St. Vincent on 4 November. The Duke of Ciudad Real immediately ordered to attack the major Dutch vessels, sinking three of them, destroying another one, and causing considerable damage to the remaining.[3] Inexplicably, when his ships were approaching the defenseless Dutch-Portuguese warships to board them, he stopped the attack and ordered to return to Cádiz.[4] This conduct dissatisfied King Philip IV, who severely reprimanded, among other officers, Don Martín Carlos de Meneos, Admiral Don Pedro de Ursúa, and Captains Pedro Girón, Gaspar de Campos and Adrián Pulido.[3] According to the Spanish Aviso of 19 November of 1641, the Portuguese fleet was not present during the battle.[5] This, however, is difficult to confirm due to the lack of profuse reports on the battle.[3]
The Dutch ships under Artus Gijsels abandoned their Portuguese allies and sailed back to England to made repairs.[3] Mendoça was surprised in middle of the sea by a strong storm that sank nearly all his squadron.[3] The Admiral ship disappeared beneath the waves with 300 sailors, as well as two galleons.[3] Mendoça abandoned his flagship and passed aboard a brigantine along with his son. Both perished when the ship was wrecked.[3] The flagship, meanwhile, reached port safely, although completely dismasted.[3]