Battle of Cabrita Point
Part of theWar of the Spanish Succession
A lithograph of the battle
Date 21 March 1705 Location OffMarbella,Atlantic Ocean Result Grand Alliance victory
Belligerents
England Portugal  Dutch Republic	France Spain
Commanders and leaders
John Leake	Bernard Desjean
Strength
35 ships of the line	18 ships of the line
Casualties and losses
Unknown killed and wounded	Unknown killed and wounded 3 ships of the line captured 2 ships of the line destroyed

TheBattle of Cabrita Point, also knownBattle of Marbella, was a naval battle that took place while a combined Spanish-French forcebesieged Gibraltar on 10 March 1705 (21 March 1705 in theNew Calendar) during theWar of Spanish Succession. The battle ended in an allied victory (English, Portuguese and Dutch) which effectively ended the Franco-Spanish siege ofGibraltar.

The allies hadconquered Gibraltar on behalf of theArchduke Charles of Habsburg on 1 August 1704. The Spanish besieged the city by land, and in that year, the French had made a first failed attempt to attack from the sea in theBattle of Vélez-Málaga.

In January 1705,Philip V of Spain was determined to reconquer the city and hadVilladarias replaced byMarshal de Tessé. Tessé realized that Gibraltar would never be retaken as long as the allies could access it from the sea. He therefore ordered AdmiralPointis to block up the place by sea with his squadron of 18 ships of the line. Some of these ships were Spanish underJosé Fernández de Santillán. Gibraltar was not a permanent harbour yet for the English fleet, which was anchored inLisbon at the time.

The commander of Gibraltar,Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, despatched an express to Lisbon, desiring SirJohn Leake to sail to his assistance. This admiral set sail immediately with five sail of the line and a body of troops. By the morning of 10 March, he had a squadron of 23 English, eight Portuguese ships of various sizes, and four Dutch.

Leake's fleet reached the Strait late on the 9th, and laid to during the night. The next morning at about 5.30 a.m., they were within two miles of Cabrita Point, when they saw five sail coming out ofthe Bay. These proved to be the French shipsMagnanime (74),Lys (86),Ardent (66),Arrogant (60), andMarquis (66). They made at first towards theBarbary Coast, but, finding that they were being gained upon, stood for the Spanish coast.^[1] At 9 a.m.Sir Thomas Dilkes inHMS Revenge, with theNewcastle,Antelope and a Dutchman-of-war, got within gunshot ofArrogant, which, after a slight resistance, struck. Before 1 p.m. two Dutch ships tookArdent andMarquis;Magnanime andLys were driven ashore to the westward ofMarbella.Magnanime, in which De Pointis had his flag, ran ashore with so much force that all her masts went by the board. The French subsequently burnedMagnanime andLys.^[2]

The rest of the French squadron had been blown from their anchorage by a gale and had taken shelter in the bay ofMálaga. They now slipped their cables and made their way toToulon.^[2]

The Marshal de Tessé, in consequence of this disaster, turned the siege of Gibraltar into a blockade, and withdrew the greater part of his forces on 31 March. Pointis retired from active service after this battle.

Leake had not only scored a remarkable victory, but had saved Gibraltar from attack and had enhanced his already high reputation.^{[citation needed]}

• Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving England
• Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving Spain
• Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving France
• Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving Portugal
• Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving the Dutch Republic
• Conflicts in 1705
• 1705 in Spain

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