Battle of Cape Espartel

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Cape Espartel


caption=
partof=the Spanish Civil War
date=September 29, 1936
place=Strait of Gibraltar, near Tangier, present-day Morocco
result=Nationalist victory
combatant1=flagicon|Spain|1931 Spanish Republic
combatant2=flagicon|Spain|1939 Nationalist Spain
commander1=
commander2=Francisco Moreno
strength1=3 destroyers
strength2=2 heavy cruisers
casualties1=1 destroyer sunk
1 destroyer damaged
casualties2=|

The Battle of Cape Espartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the naval supply route to Spanish Morocco for the Nationalists early in the war. The action erupted September 29, 1936 between two Nationalist cruisers and a squadron of Republican destroyers. The Republicans lost two ships to enemy fire and retreated to port, where they remained for most of the war.

Background

The Nationalist conspirators at Ferrol had been able to seize the city's naval base in July, but at a large cost to the Spanish Navy: Over thirty officers had been shot by hundreds of mutinous sailors, loyal to the Revolution, that were imprisoned afterwards or killed in the fighting.

Their prize included the ageing battleship España, the cruisers "Almirante Cervera" and the unfinished Canarias, and a number of torpedo boats and sloops. In September a small squadron, including the "Almirante Cervera" and "Canarias", steamed from Ferrol to engage the Republican navy.

The battle

The Nationalists attacked a squadron of Republican destroyers stationed near Cape Espartel on the western end of the Straits. A fantastically bitter exchange of fire followed during which the destroyer "Almirante Ferrándiz" was sunk and the "Gravina" was blackened and wrecked. The surviving Republican destroyer retreated.

References

*

External links

* [http://www.santacruzchronicles.com/scw2.html Summary of Major Campaigns and Offensives]