Spanish ships landing in theBattle of Ponta Delgada (Battle ofTerceira Island) naval battle of 26 July 1582, between a Spanish fleet of 26 ships which included severalpataches (tenders), commanded by DonÁlvaro de Bazán, and a French fleet of 60, led byAdmiralPhilippe Strozzi, ending with a decisive victory for the Spanish English painting of the attempted invasion ofEngland, in the Anglo-Spanish war of the late 16th century
Apatache (occasionally "patax" or "pataje") is a type of sailing vessel with two masts, very light and shallow, a sort of cross between abrig and aschooner, which originally was a warship, being intended for surveillance and inspection of the coasts and ports.[1] It was used as a tender to the fleet of vessels of more importance or size, and also for trans-Pacific travel, but later began to be used for trading voyages, carrying cargo burdens of 30 tons or more.
Pataches were used by theSpanish Navy (Armada Española) in the 15th–18th centuries mainly for the protection and monitoring of the overseas territories of theSpanish Empire. Because of their lightness and speed of movement privateers favored them in attacking commercial vessels.[2] Fleets of pataches participated in several historical battles:
The attempted Spanish invasion ofEngland by the Spanish Armada in 1588.
TheBattle of Ponta Delgada (Battle of Terceira Island) in 1582, between the French and Spanish.
Santiago, the smallest vessel in theLoaísa expedition to the Pacific in 1525–26. After losing sight of her sister ships on 1 June 1526,Santiago sailed north in a 10,000 kilometer voyage along the Pacific coast of South America, Central America and Mexico, becoming the first European vessel to pass within sight of North America's western coastline.[3]
San Lucas, piloted byLope Martín and commanded byAlonso de Arellano, was part of the expedition ofMiguel López de Legazpi to thePhilippines in 1564. It is a matter of some contention whether it was this ship orUrdaneta's much largernao, theSan Pedro, that was first to discover the crucial return path (ortornaviaje) across the Pacific from the Philippines to New Spain.
St. Nicholas, a frigate acquired by theSpanish crown in 1636 from Gabriel Tamaril.
Galgo (Greyhound) andThe Margarita, belonging to the Royal Navy Guard of theIndies run of the Spanish colonial convoy system, were stranded on the island ofBermuda in 1639.
San Juan andSan Pedro (1639), Basque and Flemish pataches, respectively, belonging toJuana Larando, the corsair widow from Donostia-San Sebastian, pillaged ships off the coast ofFrance and in theEnglish Channel.[4]
Buen Jesús, sent by the Spanish crown in 1648 fromPanama to the Spanish colony of thePhilippine Islands to discover if they had fallen into the hands of theNetherlands.
Santa Cruz, part of theTierra Firme Fleet, built in 1698 in the royalshipyards ofGuayaquil, Ecuador; armed with 44 cannons and a crew of 300 sailors under the command of Nicolas de la Rosa, Count de Vega Florida.
Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Our Lady of Carmen), commanded by Captain Araoz in 1708.
^Hoffman, Paul E. (1980).The Spanish Crown and the Defense of the Caribbean, 1535–1585. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 67–69.ISBN0807124273.
^Berguno, Jorge (1990). "The South and Mid-Pacific Voyages". In Hardy, John; Frost, Alan (eds.).European Voyaging towards Australia. Australian Academy of the Humanities. p. 25.ISBN0909897190.
