| Action of 16 April 1755 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Spanish-Barbary Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spain |  Regency of Algiers | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| José Flon y Sesma | Archimussa (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5xebecs | 3xebecs 60 cannons | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 5 killed 50 wounded[1] | 3 xebecs sunk All killed or captured | ||||||
| 14 European slaves freed | |||||||
TheAction of 16 April 1755 was fought offBenidorm, between a Spanish fleet of 5xebecs and an Algerian fleet of 3 xebecs. The Spaniards were victorious and captured the whole crew.
The names of the five Spanish xebecs wereAventurero, Ibicenco, Catalán, Garzota andGavilán and were led by the Spanish commander José Flon y Sesma[2][3] while the 3 Algerian xebecs had 24, 22 and 14 cannons and were led byArchimussa, an Algerian corsair.[1][4] The two fleets met off the coast ofBenidorm and, after 14 hours of fighting,[1] the Spanish emerged victorious,[5] sinking the three Algerian xebecs.[2]
The Spanish disembarked them in the port ofCartagena, where their wounds were treated and would later be recognized. Among the crew were 321Turks, 162Moors[6][7] and 9 privateers who had previously worked for Spain.[2] Among the slaves were 1Christian, 11Dutch, 1Piedmontese and 1Roman[6] which had recently been captured in a Dutchhulk and were on their way to Algiers.[7] The slaves were freed but the Turks and Moors were enslaved.[2]