Battle of Cape Spartel

Battle of Cape Spartel Part of the American War of Independence Relief of Gibraltar by Earl Howe, 11 October 1782, by Richard Paton Date 20 October 1782 Location Off Cape Spartel, present-day Morocco Result Indecisive; Retreat of the British fleet;[1] Supply route to Gibraltar remains open [2] Belligerents  Kingdom of Great Britain Kingdom of Spain  Kingdom of France Commanders and leaders Richard Howe Luis de Córdova Strength 35 ships of the line 2,612 guns 38 ships of the line 2,604 guns Casualties and losses 68 killed 208 wounded 59 killed 301 wounded

v t e American Revolutionary War: European Waters North Channel 1st Ushant English Channel 1st Jersey 14 September 1779 Flamborough Head 6 October 1779 11 November 1779 8 January 1780 Cape St. Vincent Cape Santa Maria 2nd Jersey Minorca 1 May 1781 30 May 1781 Dogger Bank 2nd Ushant 16 March 1782 20 April 1782 Gibraltar Cape Spartel 12 December 1782

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 Richard Howe. These forces met on 20 October 1782 after Howe successfully resupplied Gibraltar, then under siege by Bourbon forces during the American War of Independence.

Background

When Spain entered the American War of Independence in 1779, one of its principal objectives was the capture of Gibraltar from Great Britain. Shortly after war was declared, forces of Spain and France began the Great Siege of Gibraltar, blockading land access to the peninsula and enacting a somewhat porous naval blockade. Britain successfully resupplied Gibraltar in both 1780 and 1781, and recognized the need to do so again in 1782. The matter was seen as a critical by British political and military leaders, because Spain was seeking cession of the territory in peace talks.

The British Channel Fleet, which was under the command of Admiral Richard Howe, had a number of conflicting objectives to manage in the summer 1782. In addition to protecting the English Channel from Franco-Spanish incursions, the fleet also had to deal with the possibility of Dutch action on the North Sea against the transport of critical naval supplies from the Baltic, and it was expected to protect the convoy that would resupply Gibraltar. Even though intelligence received on 25 August indicated the Dutch fleet was in port at Texel, ten ships of the line were despatched to the North Sea while the convoy for Gibraltar took shape at Spithead. These ships returned to port on 4 September.

The convoy that sailed on 11 September included 35 ships of the line, a large convoy of transports destined for Gibraltar, and additional convoys destined for the East and West Indies. Because of bad weather and contrary winds, the fleet destined for Gibraltar did not arrive at Cape St. Vincent until 9 October.

Battle

A tempest on 10 October damaged some of the ships of the Franco-Spanish fleet blockading Gibraltar, which were anchored off Algeciras. Howe's fleet appeared the next day and owing to the storm, were pushed into the Mediterranean. That day, taking advantage of a WNW wind, De Córdova'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 on the 20th, both battle fleets sighted each other some 18 miles off Cape Spartel. De Córdova signalled 'general chase', disregarding division places. The British line of battle was to starboard of the Franco-Spanish. At around 1 pm, and after Cordova's flagship, the 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 British ships were really engaged, despite the efforts of de Córdova's ships, which chased the fleeing British fleet. On the 21st, both fleets were some 12 miles apart. De Córdova made repairs and was ready to resume the action. However, no battle took place the next day as Howe had sailed back to Britain in line with his orders.

Aftermath

Howe succeeded in his main aim, ensuring that the convoy arrived safely, and returned to England. The success in resupplying the hard pressed garrison at Gibraltar ensured its survival at a time when British forces were suffering a demoralising succession of losses at Minorca, Florida and the West Indies.

The timely resupply combined with the failed Franco-Spanish attack of 13 September on Gibraltar also greatly strengthened the British hand at peace talks begun earlier in October. British diplomats steadfastly refused to part with Gibraltar, despite offers by Spain to trade most of its gains.^[3]

The sailing qualities of their ships (in particular the use of copper sheathing) enabled the British to decline an action. The Spanish Navy struggled to build faster ships to avoid these situations such as that of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent – 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 of its older and heavier ships, like the Santisima Trinidad.

Fleets

British (Howe)

34 ships of the line (according to Schomberg)

Franco-Spanish (De Cordova y Cordova)

46 ships of the line

The following ships took no part in the action:

Notes

References

• Chartrand, René. Gibraltar 1779–1783: The Great Siege. Patrice Courcelle (1st Edition ed.). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-977-6. http://www.ospreypublishing.com/title_detail.php/title=S9770.
• Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1901). Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón. VII. Madrid, Spain: Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de

Rivadeneyra".

• Acton, Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg (ed) (1909). The Cambridge Modern History. New York: Macmillan. http://books.google.com/books?id=8JTtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA380#v=onepage&f=false.

External links

• Revolutionary War chronology
• Combate de Espartel. 20 de octubre de 1782 (Spanish)

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