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Battle in the Bay of Matanzas
Part of theEighty Years' War
Piet Hein capturing theSpanish silver fleet during the battle.The Story of New Netherland (1909).
Date 7–8 September 1628 Location NearMatanzas, Cuba Result Dutch victory
Belligerents
Dutch Republic	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Piet Hein Witte de With	Juan de Benavides Bazán
Strength
31 vessels	21 vessels
Casualties and losses
No casualties	12 vessels captured Minimal casualties

TheBattle in the Bay ofMatanzas was a naval battle inCuba during theEighty Years' War in which a Dutch squadron was able to defeat and capture aSpanish treasure fleet.

In 1628, AdmiralPiet Hein, withWitte de With as hisflag captain, sailed out to capture theSpanish treasure fleet loaded with silver from their American colonies. With him was AdmiralHendrick Lonck, and he was later joined by a squadron of Vice-AdmiralJoost Banckert. Part of the Spanish fleet in Venezuela had been warned because a Dutch cabin boy had lost his way onBlanquilla and was captured, betraying the plan, but the other half from Mexico continued its voyage, unaware of the threat. Sixteen Spanish ships were intercepted: one galleon was taken after a surprise encounter during the night, nine smaller merchantmen were talked into surrendering; two small ships were overtaken at sea, and four fleeinggalleons were trapped on theCuban coast in theBay of Matanzas. After some musket volleys from Dutchsloops, these ships also surrendered.

Altogether, Hein captured 11,509,524guilders (half a billion Euros in today's money; £1 million using sterling/guilder exchange rates in the 1620s) of booty ingold,silver, and expensive trade goods, such asindigo andcochineal, without any bloodshed. The Dutch didn't keep their prisoners: they gave the Spanish crews ample supplies for a march toHavana. The released men were surprised to hear the admiral personally giving them directions in fluent Spanish; Hein after all was well acquainted with the language as he had been a Spanish prisoner after 1603. The taking of the treasure was theDutch West India Company's greatest victory in the Caribbean.

The money funded the Dutch army for eight months, allowing it to capture the fortress's-Hertogenbosch, and theshareholders enjoyed a cashdividend of 50% for that year. Hein returned to the Netherlands in 1629, where he was hailed as a hero. Watching the crowds cheering him standing on the balcony of the town hall ofLeiden he remarked to the town mayor: "Now they praise me because I gained riches without the least danger; but earlier when I risked my life in full combat they didn't even know I existed." He was the first and last to capture such a large part of a Spanish "silver fleet" from the Americas, these fleets being very well-protected.

23°20′00″N81°34′00″W / 23.3333°N 81.5667°W /23.3333; -81.5667

• Battles involving the Netherlands
• Battles involving Spain
• Naval battles of the Eighty Years' War
• Conflicts in 1628
• Eighty Years' War (1621–1648)

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