Capture of Portobello (1601)
Part of theAnglo–Spanish War (1585–1604)
Present-day ruins of16th and17 centuries Santiago de la Gloria fort at seaport town ofPortobelo,Colon,Isthmus of Panama on theSpanish Main of the then world-wideSpanish Empire
Date 17 January 1601 Location Portobelo, Colón, Spanish Main Spanish Empire (present-day Republic of Panama) Result English victory[1]
Belligerents
Spain	England
Commanders and leaders
Gov Pedro Meléndez	SirWilliam Parker ofPlymouth, England (died 1618)
Strength
100 soldiers 3 ships	5 ships 200 soldiers & sailors[2]
Casualties and losses
50 casualties 3 ships captured[3]	Light[2]

TheCapture of Portobello was a military event during the long ongoingAnglo–Spanish War of 1585-1604, in which anEnglish naval expedition under the command ofprivateerWilliam Parker (died 1618), ofPlymouth, assaulted and took the seaport town ofPortobelo atColon on the eastern / northern coast ofPanama /Isthmus of Panama inCentral America, from theSpanish, captured some looted booty, and then sacked the place, an important site on theSpanish Main in the then world-wideSpanish Empire.^[4]

The war with theKingdom of Spain and its then world-wideSpanish Empire, was continuing and Englishprivateers were still roaming the Empire'sSpanish Main in theAmericas for prizes and attacking ports. In November 1600,Englishprivateer CaptainWilliam Parker, sailed from the seaport ofPlymouth on the southwest coast ofEngland, facing theEnglish Channel.

He was in command of a modest venture consisting of a small fleet of the 100-tonPrudence, the 60-tonPearl (commanded by Robert Rawlins), apinnace, and two smallshallops with the flotilla crew in all numbering 200 seamen.^[2] AtCubagua they were offered a ransom in exchange for a number of pearl boats they had seized. Near Cabo de le Veda they captured aPortugueseslaving ship. Captain Parker next guided what was now grown to a flotilla of six ships to the east of a recently abandoned Nombre de Dios and approached Portobello in pinnaces and shallops with the help of the black guides.^[1][2]

Under cover of darkness early in the morning of 6 February they employed a captured Portuguese to respond to a challenge from the newly completed fort of San Felipe on the North shore and after succeeding in this ruse were able to bypass the place without hindrance.

They then disembarked a vanguard of some forty men from the shallops. Parker and his men were then able to enter the city on the south shore unopposed since the castle of Santiago de la Gloria was positioned too far away to offer any protection. Whilst some of their party created as much noise and panic as possible in their attack on the barracks and crown buildings the remainder of the English took control of the harbour.^[5]

The 100 Spanish defenders which the Spanish Governor Pedro Meléndez had sent were too little too late.^[1] There was a bitter battle fought to seize the treasure house but it was captured after some forty Spaniards were surrounded, all being either killed or captured.^[3] The English were able to push the rest of the Spanish troops with ease inland and with only a few casualties. By the end of the day however Parker had secured the town and set about garrisoning the place. About 30 Spanish prisoners were taken among whom was the governor and several persons of importance.^[3] The English prepared for a Spanish counterattack but it never came.^[2]

Parker could only hold the town for 24 hours and the next day found no large bullion shipments of precious metals ofgold orsilver. He did however acquire a large haul of booty and he had taken a further three prizes of ships when the harbor was secured. Parker then went about sacking the town and he burnt the outlying town ofTriana to the ground. After this and with all the booty that could be collected along with captured cannons, Parker then withdrew releasing the prisoners.^[4]

The English fleet then stood out to sea with a total 10,000ducats of booty.^[5] Parker set sail for England, returning to Plymouth in May 1601 where he distributed his prize money and in September of that year becameLord Mayor of Plymouth.

A few years later, he would then become a founding member of the newVirginia Company organized inLondon in 1606, which soon sent expeditions across the Atlantic in the next year of 1607, and succeeding years to establish and settle theColony of Virginia (modernU.S. state /Commonwealth of Virginia) and first town ofJamestown on the North bank of theJames River, upstream in the interior from theChesapeake Bay, on theEast Coast of theNorth America continent, the beginnings ofEnglish America /British America and theThirteen Colonies of the soon world-wideBritish Empire over the next four hundred years.^[1][2]

• Bicheno, Hugh. (2012).Elizabeth's Sea Dogs: How England's Mariners Became the Scourge of the Seas. Conway.ISBN 978-1844861743.
• Bradley, Peter T. (2010).British Maritime Enterprise in the New World: From the Late Fifteenth to the Mid-eighteenth Century.Edwin Mellen Press.ISBN 978-0773478664.
• Konstam, Angus (2000).Elizabethan Sea Dogs 1560-1605 (Elite).Osprey Publishing.ISBN 978-1841760155.
• Marley, David (2008).Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere.ISBN 978-1598841008.
• Chartrand, Rene (2006).The Spanish Main 1493-1800 (Fortress).Osprey Publishing.ISBN 978-1846030055.

• Conflicts in 1601
• Colonial Panama
• Battles of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)
• 1601 in Central America
• 17th century in Central America
• 1601 in the Spanish Empire
• 1601 in the British Empire

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