Battle of Cape St Vincent
Part of theWar of the Quadruple Alliance
Date 20 December 1719 Location NearCape St. Vincent, Portugal Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Philip Cavendish	Rodrigo de Torres
Strength
2 ships of line 1 frigate	3 ships of line
Casualties and losses
40 killed and wounded[1][2]	20 killed 27 wounded[2]

TheBattle of Cape St Vincent was a minor naval engagement of theWar of the Quadruple Alliance, fought on 20 December 1719 nearCape St. Vincent between a squadron of two Britishships of the line and a frigate, under CommodorePhilip Cavendish and a squadron of the Spanish ships of the lineConde de Tolosa,Hermione andNuestra Señora de Guadalupe under Don Rodrigo de Torres sent fromSantander toCádiz to avoid its capture by the Anglo-French forces patrolling theBay of Biscay.

The Spanish squadron, which had captured a Britishfrigate and asloop few days before the battle, forced the British fleet to withdraw toGibraltar with about 40 casualties after 5 hours of combat, arriving to Cádiz on 2 January 1720.Pedro Messía de la Cerda, future captain of the ship of the lineGlorioso during hisfamous voyage carrying gold from theSpanish Main to Spain and Viceroy ofNew Granada, took part in the action aboard one of the Spanish ships.^[3]

• British squadron
  • HMSNorwich (50 guns)
  • HMSAdvice (50 guns)
  • HMSDover (40 guns)
• Spanish squadron
  • HMSConde de Tolosa (64 guns)
  • HMSNuestra Señora de Guadelupe (62 guns)
  • HMSHermione (50 guns)

^[4]

• Arsenal, León; Prado, Fernando (2008).Rincones de historia española. Madrid: EDAF.ISBN 978-84-414-2050-2.
• Charnock, John (1795).Biographia Navalis. Vol. 3. London: Naval & Military Press (republishing).
• Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1898).Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y de León. Vol. VI. Madrid: Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de Rivadeneyra".

• Naval battles involving the Kingdom of Great Britain
• Naval battles involving Spain
• Battles of the War of the Quadruple Alliance
• Conflicts in 1719
• 1719 in Spain
• 1719 in the British Empire

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