Battle of Cape Finisterre
Part of theTrafalgar campaign of theWar of the Third Coalition
Admiral Sir Robert Calder's action off Cape Finisterre, 23 July 1805 William Anderson
Date 22 July 1805 Location OffCape Finisterre,Atlantic Ocean 42°53′39″N9°16′16″W / 42.8941°N 9.2711°W /42.8941; -9.2711 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	France Spain
Commanders and leaders
Robert Calder	Pierre-Charles Villeneuve Federico Gravina
Strength
15 ships of the line 2 frigates 1 lugger 1 cutter	20 ships of the line 7 frigates
Casualties and losses
41 killed 162 wounded[1]	647 killed or wounded[1] 1,200 captured 2 ships of the line captured[2]
class=notpageimage| Location within Europe

In theBattle of Cape Finisterre (22 July 1805) offGalicia, Spain, the British fleet under AdmiralRobert Calder fought an indecisive naval battle against the combined Franco-Spanish fleet which was returning from theWest Indies. In the ensuing battle the British captured two Spanish ships of the line, but failed to prevent the joining of French AdmiralPierre-Charles Villeneuve's fleet to the squadron ofFerrol and to strike the shattering blow that would have freed Great Britain from the danger^[3] of an invasion. Calder was later court-martialled and severely reprimanded for his failure and for avoiding the renewal of the engagement on 23 and 24 July. At the same time, in the aftermath Villeneuve elected not to continue on toBrest, where his fleet could have joined with other French ships to clear theEnglish Channel for an invasion of Great Britain.

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The fragilePeace of Amiens of 1802 had come to an end when Napoleon formally annexed the Italian state ofPiedmont and on 18 May 1803 Britain was once again at war with France.

Napoleon planned to end the British blockade by invading and conquering Britain. By 1805 hisArmée d'Angleterre was 150,000 strong and encamped atBoulogne. If this army could cross the English Channel, victory over the poorly trained and equipped militias was very likely. The plan was that the French navy would escape from the British blockades ofToulon and Brest and threaten to attack theWest Indies, thus drawing off the British defence of theWestern Approaches. The combined fleets would rendezvous atMartinique and then double back to Europe, land troops in Ireland to raise a rebellion, defeat the weakened British patrols in the Channel, and help transport the Armée d'Angleterre across theStraits of Dover.

French AdmiralPierre-Charles Villeneuve sailed from Toulon on 29 March with elevenships of the line, sixfrigates and twobrigs. He evaded AdmiralNelson's blockading fleet and passed theStrait of Gibraltar on 8 April. AtCádiz, he drove off the British blockading squadron and was joined by six Spanish ships of the line. The combined fleet sailed for the West Indies, reaching Martinique on 12 May. Nelson was kept in the Mediterranean by westerly winds and did not pass the Strait until 7 May. The British fleet of ten ships reachedAntigua on 4 June.

Villeneuve waited at Martinique for AdmiralGanteaume's Brest fleet to join him, but it remained blockaded in port. Pleas from French army officers for Villeneuve to attack British colonies went unheeded—except for the recapture of the island fort ofDiamond Rock—until 4 June when he set out from Martinique. On 7 June he learned from a captured British merchantman that Nelson had arrived at Antigua, and on 11 June Villeneuve left for Europe, having failed to achieve any of his objectives in the Caribbean.

While in theAntilles, the Franco-Spanish fleet ran into a British convoy worth 5 millionfrancs escorted by the frigateBarbadoes, 28 guns, andsloopNetley. Villeneuve hoisted general chase and two French frigates with the Spanish shipArgonauta, 80 guns, captured all the ships but one escort.

On 30 June the combined squadron captured and burned an English 14-gunprivateer. On 3 July the fleet recaptured Spanish galleonMatilda, which carried an estimated 15 million franc treasure, from English privateerMars, from Liverpool, which was towingMatilda to an English harbour. The privateer was burned and the merchant was taken in tow by theSirène.

The fleet sailed back to Europe. On 9 July the French shipIndomptable lost its main spar in a gale that damaged some other vessels slightly. The Atlantic crossings had been very difficult, according to Spanish AdmiralGravina, who had crossed the Atlantic eleven times. So, with some ships in bad condition, tired crews and scarce victuals, the combined fleet sighted land nearCape Finisterre on 22 July.

News of the returning French fleet reached Vice AdmiralRobert Calder on 19 July. He was ordered to lift his blockade of the ports ofRochefort andFerrol and sail for Cape Finisterre to intercept Villeneuve.^[4] The fleets sighted each other at about 11:00 on 22 July.

After several hours of manoeuvring to the south-west, the action began at about 17:15 as the British fleet, withHero (CaptainAlan Gardner) in the vanguard, bore down on the Franco-Spanish line of battle. In poor visibility, the battle became a confused melee.Malta formed the rear-most ship in the British line in the approach to the battle, but as the fleets became confused in the failing light and thick patchy fog,Malta, commanded bySir Edward Buller, found itself surrounded by five Spanish ships.^[5][6] During a fierce engagement in whichMalta suffered five killed and forty wounded, the British ship battled it out, sending out devastating broadsides from both port and starboard.

At about 20:00, Buller forced the Spanish 80-gunSan Rafael to strike, and afterwards sent theMalta's boats to take possession of the Spanish 74-gunFirme.^[6][7][8] Calder signalled to break-off the action at 20:25, aiming to continue the battle the next day. In the failing light and general confusion, some ships continued to fire for another hour.

Daybreak on 23 July found the fleets 27 kilometres (17 mi) apart. Calder was unwilling to attack a second time against superior odds. He had to protect the damagedWindsor Castle andMalta with her large captured Spanish prizes and considered the possibility that the previously blockaded fleets at Rochefort and Ferrol might put to sea and effect a junction with Villeneuve's combined fleet. Accordingly, he declined to attack and headed northeast with his prizes.

Villeneuve's report claims that at first he intended to attack, but in the very light breezes it took all day to come up to the British and he decided not to risk combat late in the day. On 24 July a change in the wind put the Franco-Spanish fleet to the windward of the British—the ideal position for an attack—but instead of attacking, Villeneuve turned away to the south. When he arrived atA Coruña on 1 August, he received orders from Napoleon to proceed immediately to Brest and Boulogne, but perhaps believing a false report of a superior British fleet in the Bay of Biscay, he returned to Cádiz, arriving on 21 August.

• 
  Defiance,Windsor Castle,Prince of Wales,Repulse,Raisonable, andGlory, an engraving afterThomas Whitcombe
• 
  Day after the action – British frigates have two Spanish prizes, theFirme and theSan Rafael under tow on the right. Painting by William Anderson

Both sides claimed victory in the battle's aftermath.^[9] The British with more right as they had a numerically inferior force, losing no ships with losses of 41 officers and men killed and 162 wounded.^[10] The Franco-Spanish meanwhile had losses of 476 officers and men killed and wounded, with a further 800 ill.^[11] In addition the Spanish had lost two ships of the line, theFirme and theSan Rafael which were captured in a battered state with over 1,200 sailors and marines captured. The French shipsAtlas,Pluton and the SpanishEspana were also badly mauled.^[10] Calder was relieved of his command, court-martialled, and sentenced to be severely reprimanded for his failure to renew the battle on 23 and 24 July. He never served at sea again. Villeneuve failed to push on Brest, retired to refit at Vigo, then slipped into Coruña, and on 15 August decided to make for Cadiz.

The withdrawal to Cadiz ruined all hopes of Napoleon to make an invasion and landing in England, thus Napoleon, frustrated by Villeneuve's lack of élan, was forced to abandon his plan of invading Britain. Instead, theArmée d'Angleterre, renamed theGrande Armée, left Boulogne on 27 August to counter the threat from Austria and Russia. A few weeks after the battle he wrote: "Gravina is all genius and decision in combat. If Villeneuve had had those qualities, the battle of Finisterre would have been a complete victory."

Villeneuve and the combined fleets remained at Cádiz until they came out to their destruction at theBattle of Trafalgar on 21 October.

"If Admiral Villeneuve, instead of entering Ferrol, had contented himself with rallying at the Spanish squadron, and had sailed for Brest to join Admiral Gantheaume, my army would have landed; it would have been all over with England."

The two captured Spanish ships of the lineFirme andSan Rafael were taken into Plymouth. Whilst there they were turned intoprison hulks.^[13]

• Calder had fifteen ships of the line (Prince of Wales,Glory,Barfleur,Windsor Castle,Malta,Thunderer,Hero,Repulse,Defiance,Ajax,Warrior,Dragon,Triumph,Agamemnon, andRaisonnable), two frigates (Egyptienne andSirius), and two smaller vessels.

• Villeneuve had twenty ships of the line (six Spanish:Argonauta,Terrible,América,España,San Rafael,Firme; fourteen French:Pluton,Mont Blanc,Atlas,Berwick,Neptune,Bucentaure,Formidable,Intrépide,Scipion,Swiftsure,Indomptable,Aigle,Achille, andAlgésiras) with seven frigates, and two brigs, one of which wasFuret.

(according to Juan Ramón Viana Villavicencio)

Ship	Fleet	Casualties		Damage
		Dead	Wounded	Rigging	Masts and spars	Hull and others
Argonauta (80), Flagship of Lieutenant-GeneralFederico Gravina, Flag-Captain Rafael de Hore		6	5	Mizzen and fore masts knocked down	Cutwater torn down
Terrible (74), Commander Francisco Vázquez de Mondragón		1	7	Much torn	Two cannons dismounted, slide ripped off, one shot flotation high
América (64), Comm. Juan Darrac		5	13	All masts bullet-riddled	60 shots
España (64), Comm. Bernardo Muñoz		5	23	Much torn	Mizzen mast down, several spars	Rudder partly obliterated, some damage in hull
San Rafael (80), Comm. Francisco de Montes (captured)		41	97	All torn	Utterly dismantled	Bullet riddled
Firme (74), Comm. Rafael de Villavicencio (captured)		35	60	All torn	Fully dismantled	Shot riddled
Pluton (74), Comm.Cosmao-Kerjulien		14	24
Mont Blanc (74), Comm.Guillaume-Jean-Noël de Lavillegris  (DOW)		5	16
Atlas (74), Comm.Pierre-Nicolas Rolland		15	52	Captain Rolland wounded
Berwick (74), Comm.Jean-Gilles Filhol de Camas		3	11
Neptune (80), Comm.Esprit-Tranquille Maistral		3	9
Bucentaure (80), Flagship of Adm. Villeneuve, Comm.Jean-Jacques Magendie		5	5
Formidable (80), Flagship ofRear-Admiral Dumanoir, Comm.Letellier		6	8
Intrépide (74), Comm.Louis-Antoine-Cyprien Infernet		7	9
Scipion (74), Comm.Charles Berrenger		0	0
Swiftsure (74), Comm.Charles-Eusèbe Lhospitalier de la Villemadrin		0	0
Indomptable (80), Comm.Jean Joseph Hubert		1	1
Aigle (74), Comm.Pierre-Paulin Gourrège		6	0
Achille (74), Comm.Louis-Gabriel Deniéport		0	0
Algésiras (74), Flagship of Rear-AdmiralCharles René Magon de Médine, Comm.Gabriel-Auguste Brouard		0	0
Cornélie (44),
Rhin (44), Comm.Michel-Jean-André Chesneau
Didon (40), Comm.Pierre-Bernard Milius
Hortense (40), Comm.Delamarre de Lamellerie
Hermione (40), Comm.Jean-Michel Mahé
Sirène (40),
Thémis (40),

• Ferrol SpanishCapital of the Maritime Department of the North (1788 AD).

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• William James,Naval History of Great Britain, 1793–1827.

• Media related toBattle of Cape Finisterre (1805) at Wikimedia Commons
• Spanish Capital of the Maritime Department of the North (1788 AD).
• Battle of Cape Finisterre: 'Military History Encyclopedia on the Web.
• Vessels Blockading various French and Spanish ports – May 1805.
• Index of British Vessels – May 1805.
• The Naval Station of Ferrol in pictures – 2004.
• Todo a Babor. La Batalla de Finisterre The battle of Finisterre. In Spanish.

• Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving the United Kingdom
• Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving Spain
• Conflicts in 1805
• Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom
• 1805 in France
• Battles of the War of the Third Coalition
• Military history of Galicia (Spain)
• 19th-century history of the Royal Navy
• July 1805
• Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808)

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