The Short History of British Battles by Paul Davies

Author:Paul Davies [Davies, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

Vigo

War of Spanish Succession

Skill and Daring Rewarded

1702

The Battle of Vigo was one of the Anglo-Dutch navy’s infrequent successes in the War of Spanish Succession (1702-13). Luck, skill and valour all contributed to it.

After returning from the abortive expedition against Cadiz, the Anglo-Dutch fleet was moving up the Spanish coast when suddenly an excited rumour ran around the squadrons. Captain Hardy had learnt that a Spanish fleet, laden with the treasure of the Spanish monarchy, if not with the fortunes of the whole House of Bourbon, was hiding near by.

The rumour proved true – 15 Spanish galleons (178 guns total), guarded by 15 French men-of-war (929 guns), were already unloading their precious cargo in the heavily-protected deep harbour in Vigo Bay. The bay itself, in northern Spain, runs inland (eastwards) some 20 miles. Vigo town, 13 miles in, dominates the approach to the harbour of La Redondela. The harbour entrance, only 800 metres wide, was reinforced with a fort to the south and batteries on either side. Across the mouth stretched a boom which was made out of barrels, ropes and spars, and measured some ten metres in circumference.

On 11th October, Sir George Rooke, the British Admiral, briefed the fleet, then, approaching under cover of mist, disembarked 5,000 men to silence the land resistance. Next day the fort flew the British flag, showing the army had captured it.

Immediately the Torbay with 24 others under full sail charged the boom. A crash at full speed brought down all the Torbay’s sails as she parted the barrier – though now she was left helpless at the mercy of the guns of five French men-of-war and set ablaze by a fire-ship. As the flames caught the sails lying on the decks, the fire-ship’s cargo of snuff suddenly exploded, miraculously extinguishing the flames.

With the allied force surging through the gap, the French commander tried to burn the ships before they fell into enemy hands. But the British were too fast and captured 13 men-of-war as well as several treasure galleons containing doubloons and cargo worth over £2 million.

The success of Vigo was a great boost to Anglo-Dutch morale and finances. It was a bitter blow to the Spanish and French.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.