Battle of the Berlengas (1591)
| Battle of Berlengas Islands | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) | |||||||
 George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, after Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1590. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 England |
 Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Earl of Cumberland William Monson (POW) |
Francisco Coloma | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5 warships[1] | 5 galleys[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 warship captured, 2 prizes recovered,[2] "Captain and principal men slain",[3] 150+ prisoners[2] | 2 killed[2] | ||||||
The Battle of Berlengas Islands was a naval battle which took place off the Portuguese coast on 15 July 1591, during the
Expedition
Having undertaken naval expeditions to the coasts of Spain in 1587, 1588, and 1589,
So greatly we were abused by the nation of Holland, who, though they were the first that engaged us in the war with Spain, yet still maintained their own trade into those ports, and supplied the Spaniards with ammunition, victuals, shipping and intelligences against us.[3]
— Sir William Monson's naval tracts, p. 179
The English squadron took further prizes: one ship loaded with wine and two with sugar, which were sent back to England.
Battle
The Golden Noble was discovered by a squadron of five Spanish galleys under Francisco Coloma, General of the Armada de Guarda Costa (Coast-guard armada).
Aftermath
After the action, Cumberland wrote to Archduke Albert requesting him that the English prisoners should be humanely treated or he would retaliate the injuries which they might suffer with "double severity" upon the Spaniards.[8] Monson, who was among the prisoners, was carried to Portugal and imprisoned two years at Cascais and Lisbon,[10] together with 6 other officers, being the sailors and soldiers provided with new clothing and freed.[8] Monson spent several months as a galley slave in the Leiva galley together with 100 other English captives.[9] Two weeks after the encounter, a much larger English fleet under Lord Thomas Howard, dispatched to the Azores to capture the annual Spanish treasure convoy sailing from the Americas, was put to the flight at the Battle of Flores. The English galleon Revenge was dismasted and captured by the Spanish and Portuguese ships after a protracted action, but later the prize foundered in a storm.[11]
Notes
- ^ a b MacCaffrey p. 104
- ^ a b c d e f g Fernández Duro p. 79
- ^ a b c d e Monson, p. 179
- ^ Barrow, pp. 440–448
- ^ a b c Bourne p. 267
- ^ Campbell, p. 208
- ^ Southey, p. 9
- ^ a b c d e Campbell, p. 209
- ^ a b Fonseca, Luís José Torres Falcão da. Guerra e navegação a remos no mar oceano:as galés na política naval hispânica (1550-1604). Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, 2013, pp. 185-186.
- ^ Goldsmith p. 141
- ISBN 9788471402301
References
- Barrow, John (1845). Memoirs of the naval worthies of Queen Elizabeth's reign. London, UK: J. Murray.
- Bourne, Henry Richard Fox (1868). English seamen under the Tudors. Vol. 1. London, UK: R. Bentley.
- Campbell, John; Kent, John (1777). Biographia Nautica. Vol. 3. London, UK: J. Williams.
- Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1898). Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón. Vol. III. Madrid, Spain: Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de Rivadeneyra".
- Goldsmith, William (1825). The naval history of Great Britain: from the earliest period, with biographical notices of the admirals, and other distinguished officers. London, UK: J. Jaques.
- MacCaffrey, Wallace T. (1994). Elizabeth I: War and Politics, 1588–1603. Princeton, USA: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-03651-9.
- Monson, William (1703). Sir William Monson's naval tracts. London, UK: A. and J. Churchill.
- Southey, Robert (1834). The British admirals: With an introductory view of the naval history of England. Vol. 3. London, UK: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman.