Battle of Cape Spartel

The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Howe. The fleets met on October 20, 1782 during a successful British campaign to maintain supply routes to Gibraltar, then under siege by the Bourbon armies as part of the American Revolutionary War.

Battle

There was a tempest on 10 October, and some of the Franco-Spanish ships, which were anchored off Algeciras, were damaged, although none were sunk. Howe's fleet, escorting a Gibraltar-bound merchant convoy, appeared the next day and, owing to the storm, were pushed into the Mediterranean. That day, taking advantage of a WNW wind, De Córdoba's fleet started to pursue the convoy, while the Spanish Admiral sent his smaller vessels to shadow the British. After several days of fighting westerly winds and currents the convoy, having evaded the Spanish, managed to enter Gibraltar on the 17th.

Meanwhile, around sunrise of the 20th, both battle fleets sighted each other some 18 miles off Cape Spartel. De Córdoba signalled general chase disregarding division places. The British line of battle was to starboard of the Franco-Spanish. At around 1 pm, and after Cordoba's flagship the huge 120-gun "Santísima Trinidad" reached the centre of the combined line, both fleets were about two miles apart. The British reduced sail in order to tighten their line of battle. At 5.45 the van of the Franco-Spanish fleet opened fire. The British returned fire, while Howe signalled retreat all sail, making at least 14 Franco-Spanish ships redundant, among them two three-deckers. No English ships were really engaged despite the efforts of de Córdoba's ships, which chased the fleeing British fleet. On the 21st both fleets were some 12 miles apart. De Córdoba made repairs and was ready to resume battle. However, no battle took place as the next day the British had disappeared.

Aftermath

Gibraltar had been under long-standing siege by the Franco-Spanish ships and needed supplies badly. Howe succeeded in his main aim, ensuring that the convoy arrived safely, and returned to England with some damage and a few casualties, and a need to explain to the admiralty why he had failed to defeat the enemy. Howe's conduct was examined and he was severely reprimanded. In future encounters with their enemies, the British fleets would engage them with ferocity, no matter what the proportion was, in fear of their commanders-in-chief would be removed.The successes in resupplying the hard pressed garrison at Gibraltar ensured its survival at a time British forces were suffering a demoralising succession of losses at Minorca, Florida and the Bahamas.

The sailing qualities of their ships enabled the British to decline an action and from then on the Spanish Navy struggled to build faster ships to avoid these situations than such as that of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) – the Moonlight Battle - two years before, when Rodney's "coppered" 18-ship fleet chased down and engaged de Lángara's 11-ship fleet. The Spanish navy had been slow to begin coppering its own vessels. It was also limited by the slow speed of some its heavier vessels, like the Santisima Trinidad.

Fleets

British (Howe)

34 ships of the line (according to Schomberg)

VAN

col-2 First division

* "Britannia (100"), Flagship, Vice-Admiral Barrington
* "Atlas" (98)
* "Royal William (80)"
* "Ganges (74)"
* "Goliath (74)"
* "Panther" (64)
* "Ruby" (64) col-2 Second division

* "Foudroyant" (80)
* "Edgar" (74)
* "Suffolk" (74)
* "Polyphemus" (64)
* "Vigilant" (64) col-end

CENTRE

col-2 First division

* "Victory" (100), Flagship, Admiral Lord Howe
* "Prince Royal" (98)
* "Alexander" (74)
* "Valiant" (74)
* "Crown" (64)
* "Sanson" (64) col-2 Second division

* "Blenheim" (98)
* "Queen" (90)
* "Bellona" (74)
* "Egmont" (74)
* "Asia" (64) col-end

REAR

col-2 First division

* "Princess Amelia" (80), Flagship, Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Hughes
* "Dublin" (74)
* "Fortitude" (74)
* "Berwick" (74)
* "Bienfaisant" (64)
* "Raissonable" (64) col-2 Second division

* "Ocean" (90), Flagship, Rear-Admiral Millbank
* "Union" (90)
* "Cambridge" (80)
* "Vengeance" (74)
* "Buffalo" (64) col-end

Franco-Spanish (De Córdoba)

46 ships of the line (according to Fernández Duro)

col-2 Spanish

* "Santísima Trinidad" (120), Flagship, Lieutenant-General Luis de Córdoba
* "Rayo" (80) Commodore Posada
* "Terrible" (74)
* "Arrogante" (70)
* "Brillante" (70), Lieutenant General Viscount De Rochecouart
* "Firme" (70)
* "Galicia" (70)
* "Guerrero" (70)
* "San Isidoro" (70)
* "San Isidro" (70)
* "San Joaquín" (70)
* "San Juan Bautista" (70)
* "San Justo" (70)
* "San Lorenzo" (70)
* "San Rafael" (70)
* "San Vicente" (70), Commodore Ponce de León
* "Santa Isabel" (70)
* "Serio" (70)
* "Triunfante" (70)
* "Vencedor" (70)
* "Castilla" (64)
* "España" (64)
* "Septentrión" (64) col-2 French

* "Bretagne" (110)
* "Invincible" (110), Lieutenant General Lamotte-Picquet
* "Majesteux" (110)
* "Royal Louis" (110), Commodore de Bausset
* "Actif" (74)
* "Dictateur" (74)
* "Guerriere" (74)
* "Robuste" (74)
* "Suffisant" (74)
* "Zodiaque" (74)
* "Indien" (64) col-end

The following ships took no part in the action:

col-2 Spanish

* "Purísima Concepción" (112)
* "San Fernando" (80)
* "Africa" (70)
* "Oriente" (70)
* "San Eugenio" (70), Lieutenant General Count de Guichen
* "Astuto" (60)
* "San Julián" (60)
* "Miño" (54) col-2 French

* "Terrible" (110), Lieutenant General Bonet
* "Bienanime" (74)
* "Atlas" (70)
* "Lion" (64), Lieutenant General Miguel Gastón col-end

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/revwar/revolution_day_by_day/1782_bottom.html Revolutionary War chronology]
* [http://www.todoababor.es/articulos/espartel.htm]