Second Battle of Algeciras facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Second Battle of Algeciras |
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| Part of the French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||
 Beau fait d'armes du capitaine Troude, Morel-Fatio |
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 James Saumarez |
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The Second Battle of Algeciras was a big naval fight that happened on the night of July 12, 1801. It took place in the Gut of Gibraltar, which is a narrow sea passage. In this battle, a group of British Royal Navy ships fought against a larger group of ships from the Spanish Navy and French Navy.
This battle happened just after the First Battle of Algeciras on July 6. In that first battle, a French group of ships was anchored in the Spanish port of Algeciras. A larger British group from nearby Gibraltar attacked them. The British ships got stuck in calm weather and were badly damaged. They lost a ship called HMS Hannibal.
Both sides needed to fix their ships and called for help. The French got help first from the Spanish fleet in Cadiz. Six Spanish ships of the line came to help the French ships get to safety. The combined French and Spanish ships were ready to sail on July 12. They left Algeciras heading west in the evening.
The British group, led by Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez, had quickly fixed their own ships. They chased after the enemy. Saumarez told his captains to spread out and attack the combined fleet however they could. The fastest British ship was HMS Superb, led by Captain Richard Goodwin Keats. As night fell, Superb sailed through the Spanish ships at the back.
Superb fired at the ships at the very end of the line. It set the 112-gun Spanish ship Real Carlos on fire and captured the French ship Saint Antoine. In the dark, Real Carlos accidentally fired at another Spanish ship, San Hermenegildo. The fire spread to San Hermenegildo. Both ships then blew up, causing a huge loss of life.
After this, a second part of the battle began. HMS Venerable took the lead of the British line. It attacked the last French ship, Formidable, led by Captain Amable Troude. This fight was long and fierce. Venerable was badly damaged and got stuck on the shore. This allowed the rest of the French ships to return to Cadiz without more fighting.
After the battle, Venerable was pulled back to Gibraltar for repairs. The rest of the British ships went back to blocking the French and Spanish ships in Cadiz. This British victory helped balance things out after Saumarez's earlier defeat. The many losses for the Spanish also made their alliance with France weaker. This eventually led to the Treaty of Amiens, which stopped the war for a short time. In France, even with the Spanish losses, the battle was seen as a victory. Troude was highly praised for defending his ship.
Contents
Why the Battle Happened
The First Battle of Algeciras
In 1798, the French navy in the Mediterranean Sea was mostly destroyed by the British at the Battle of the Nile. This happened during the French invasion of Egypt. The British Royal Navy became very strong in the Mediterranean Sea. The French army was stuck in Egypt.
In 1801, France wanted to make its navy stronger in the area. They sent more ships from their Atlantic fleet. They also bought ships from the Spanish Navy in Cadiz. A group of French ships sailed from Brest in January. They tried three times to reach Egypt, but failed. They then went to Toulon on the French Mediterranean coast.
However, three ships, Formidable, Indomptable, and Desaix, were sent to Cadiz in May. They were led by Contre-Admiral Charles Linois. In Cadiz, the Spanish fleet agreed to sell six ships to the French Navy. On June 13, two French frigates, Libre and Indienne, arrived to help with the transfer.
On his way to Cadiz, Linois learned that a strong British group of seven ships was blocking the port. This group was led by Rear-Admiral Sir James Saumarez. Linois was worried his ships would be defeated. So, he took shelter in the small but well-protected harbor of Algeciras. This port was just across Algeciras Bay from the British naval base at Gibraltar.
Saumarez found out Linois was there and went to attack him. On the morning of July 6, he found the French ships in a strong position. Saumarez attacked right away. But his ships had trouble moving because there was not much wind. The British ships were stuck under heavy fire. They caused a lot of damage to the French ships, which moved into shallower water. Two French ships got stuck.
When Saumarez ordered his ships to follow, HMS Hannibal also got stuck. It was trapped under heavy fire from the shore. With no wind to move and many boats sunk or busy, Saumarez stopped the attack. This was at 1:35 PM. The damaged British ships went back to Gibraltar. But Hannibal was trapped and forced to give up. It had lost two masts and over 140 men.
More Ships Arrive
Both sides had badly damaged ships and needed more help. Linois sent a message to the Spanish fleet in Cadiz. He asked Admiral Don Jose de Mazzaredo to send ships to escort the French force to Cadiz.
In Cadiz, the Spanish admiral agreed on July 8. He sent a strong group of ships led by Vice-Admiral Don Juan Joaquín Moreno de Mondragón to Algeciras. Moreno's group included two very large 112-gun ships, Real Carlos and San Hermenegildo. It also had the 96-gun San Fernando, the 80-gun Argonauta, and the 74-gun San Agustín.
With this group was the 74-gun French ship Saint Antoine. This ship had been the Spanish San Antonio just a few days before. It was the first French ship bought from the Spanish Navy to be used. The group also had the frigates Libre, Indienne, and the Spanish Sabina.
The combined Spanish and French ships sailed from Cadiz on July 9. They quickly reached Algeciras Bay late in the afternoon. They waited there for Linois to finish repairing his ships.
A small British group watched the combined fleet. It was led by Captain Richard Goodwin Keats on HMS Superb. Keats had not been in the first battle. He had been watching the Spanish fleet off Cadiz. When Moreno sailed, Keats followed them and then joined Saumarez at Gibraltar.
At Gibraltar, the British worked very hard to fix Saumarez's ships. They wanted to stop Moreno's ships on their way back to Cadiz. The ship Pompée was left for later repairs. Saumarez also planned to leave his main ship, HMS Caesar, behind. But Captain Jahleel Brenton asked to fix his ship. Saumarez agreed. The crew of Caesar worked all day and night to get their ship ready.
Saumarez thought he would have at least two weeks to prepare. He sent messages asking for help from the Mediterranean Fleet.
The Battle Begins
On July 11, the British saw that Moreno's ships were getting ready to sail. So, the British workers fixing Saumarez's ships worked even harder. A light easterly wind came up, which would help ships sail back to Cadiz. Both Moreno and Saumarez got ready to leave the next day.
At noon on July 12, Caesar was pulled out of Gibraltar dockyard. Its band played "Heart of Oak". Crowds watched the coming battle. By then, Moreno's ships were already at sea. At dawn on July 12, the Spanish ships began to move. By noon, the French and Spanish ships were gathering at Cabrita Point. This is at the mouth of Algeciras Bay.
At 3:00 PM, Saumarez set sail. His flag flew from Caesar. He was followed by the ships Superb, HMS Spencer, HMS Venerable, and HMS Audacious. There were also frigates Thames and the Portuguese Carlotta, plus smaller ships. Both Saumarez and Linois expected more ships to arrive, but none did.
At 7:00 PM, the British ships rounded Gibraltar. They found the French and Spanish ships still gathering at Cabrita Point. The light wind made it hard to move fast. Saumarez slowly sailed towards the combined group in a battle line.
Moreno's departure was delayed because of the captured Hannibal. It was now called Annibal. It could not move well and was being towed by the frigate Indienne. When Moreno saw Saumarez's ships, he told Indienne and Hannibal to go back to Algeciras. At 7:45 PM, he ordered the rest of his ships to sail west through the Gut of Gibraltar towards Cadiz. Moreno also moved from his main ship Real Carlos to the frigate Sabina. He convinced Linois to do the same.
Superb's Surprise Attack
At 8:00 PM, Saumarez led his ships into the Gut after the combined fleet. But as it got dark, Moreno's ships were already out of sight. The British admiral realized his ships were too slow to catch them before they reached the open ocean.
At 8:40 PM, the wind picked up. Saumarez told his ships to break formation and attack the back of the combined fleet. He gave this order to Keats in Superb, as his ship was the fastest. Keats immediately set all sails. The wind became a strong gale in the Straits. Superb sailed very fast, at 11.5 knots. By 10:00 PM, it saw the combined fleet's rearguard again. This part included the 112-gun ships and Saint Antoine.
Behind Superb, Keats could only see Caesar and Venerable far away. By 11:00 PM, only Caesar was still in sight, more than 3 nautical miles behind Superb. Even though he was facing many enemy ships, Keats steered Superb very close to Real Carlos, about 350 yards away.
Superb fired three powerful broadsides into the Spanish ship before it fired back. The attack was so sudden. By 11:20 PM, Keats was being fired upon by all three ships at the back of the French and Spanish line. But he avoided much of the fire by keeping his ship dark. This made the enemy ships fire at each other more than at Superb. Linois had also told his ships to turn off their lights, which made things even more confusing for the Spanish ships. The moon had set, and it was very dark.
Real Carlos fired randomly but did not hit Superb once. Keats's ship was much more accurate. Its three broadsides caused serious damage. They knocked away the foretopmast and started a fire on the Spanish ship's deck. The fire grew quickly and could be seen clearly from Gibraltar.
With Real Carlos damaged, Keats moved on to fight Saint Antoine. The French and Spanish crew fought the British ship as it came closer. At 11:50 PM, Keats brought his ship right next to the new French ship. A close and fierce battle began. The ships fired at each other in the dark, with the wind getting stronger.
The battle continued for 30 minutes. Then, with the ships off Cape Spartel in North Africa, a wounded Le Ray decided his ship could not fight anymore. He called out to Superb to say he had surrendered. However, his flag got tangled, making it look like the ship was still fighting. This caused other British ships to attack it later as they arrived. Formidable was also at the back of the combined fleet. It escaped attack by pretending to use British signal lights until it had safely passed the battle between Superb and Saint Antoine.
Keats stayed with his captured ship, waiting for the rest of the British ships. Caesar, Venerable, Spencer, and Thames arrived after midnight. They all fired at Saint Antoine as they passed. Then they continued west, looking for the rest of Moreno's ships. Superb was later joined by Carlotta and the small ships HMS Calpe and Louisa.
East of the fight between Superb and Saint Antoine, the fire on Real Carlos was out of control. It spread throughout the ship. In the darkness, the burning ship stood out. The crew of San Hermenegildo thought it was a British ship. Even though Moreno had told his captains to be sure of their targets, San Hermenegildo got close to the burning ship. It fired several broadsides into Real Carlos.
This attack caused Real Carlos to fire back. The two huge warships began a close fight. It only stopped when Real Carlos drifted into San Hermenegildo. The flames spread from Real Carlos's sails to San Hermenegildo. Saumarez, seeing this, excitedly said, "My God sir, look there! The day is ours!"
Within minutes, both ships were tangled together. Fire spread everywhere. The fire was too dangerous for British ships to try to rescue anyone. A few hundred men managed to escape in small boats. But there were still over 1,700 sailors on board when Real Carlos exploded at 12:15 AM. Then San Hermenegildo exploded at 1:00 AM as the flames reached their gunpowder storage. Both crews were killed.
262 survivors were taken aboard the captured Saint Antoine. 38 were taken on Superb. A few managed to reach the rest of the French and Spanish ships. The loss of over 1,700 Spanish sailors was one of the worst sea disasters at that time.
Venerable and Formidable's Fight
While Keats stayed with his prize, Saumarez led the rest of his ships forward. Audacious was left far behind. The French and Spanish ships had scattered after Superb's attack. During the night, each made its way separately to the meeting point off Cadiz harbor.
As dawn broke at 4:00 AM on July 13, lookouts on the leading British ship, Venerable, saw the French ship Formidable. Formidable was led by Captain Amable Troude. It was behind the rest of the fleet, close to the shore in Conil Bay. The wind was light and coming from the land. So Caesar and Spencer could not get close to the French ship. It was up to Venerable and Thames to lead the attack.
Formidable only had temporary masts after the battle on July 6. So Venerable could quickly get close to the French ship. Formidable's stern guns fired at Venerable at 5:15 AM. Venerable waited until 5:20 AM to fire back so it would not slow down. The light breeze helped Venerable get close to Formidable and fire a full broadside. Off Cadiz, the remaining Spanish and French ships wanted to help Formidable. But they got stuck in calm waters and could only watch the battle.
Venerable took the worst of the early fighting. At 5:30 AM, its mizzen topmast was shot away. Venerables captain, Samuel Hood, told Captain Aiskew Hollis in Thames to go to Formidables stern. The frigate repeatedly fired at the French ship from behind.
For another hour, the ships fired at each other. Then, at 6:45 AM, Venerable's mainmast fell over the side. This greatly slowed the ship down. Formidable slowly pulled ahead in the light winds. It kept firing its stern guns at the now stuck British ship. Venerable was drifting out of control. Its foremast fell at 7:50 AM as the ship ran aground on the sandbanks at Sancti Petri, about 12 miles south of Cadiz.
With his main opponent disabled, Troude continued slowly towards Cadiz. He was out of range of the approaching Caesar.
Saumarez sent Jahleel Brenton in a small boat to Venerable at 8:00 AM. He told Hood that if the combined French and Spanish ships from Cadiz came to attack, Hood should remove his crew and set his ship on fire. Thames was brought close to evacuate the ship if needed. But Hood refused and said he could save his ship.
Finally, Audacious and Superb appeared on the horizon. Moreno gave up any idea of attacking and entered Cadiz harbor with his ships. Troude followed in Formidable. Their arrival was cheered by the people of Cadiz. They did not know about the disaster in the Gut of Gibraltar. People in Cadiz still expected Saint Antoine to arrive as late as July 16.
What Happened After
Losses
With the immediate danger gone, Saumarez could focus on saving the damaged Venerable. The calm sea and light winds helped. At 2:00 PM, with help from Thames and boats from Caesar and Spencer, Venerable was floating again. Venerable was towed first by Thames and then by Spencer. The British ships turned back towards Gibraltar at 6:00 PM. The crew put up temporary masts and sails to help. By 8:00 AM on July 14, Venerable could sail on its own. The ships arrived at Gibraltar later that day.
At Gibraltar, the returning ships were met with cheers and a 21-gun salute. Spencer, Audacious, and Thames stayed at sea off Cadiz to continue blocking the port. This blockade lasted until the end of the French Revolutionary Wars in March 1802.
British losses were quite low. Most happened on Venerable, which had 18 killed and 87 wounded. Superb had 15 men wounded, including an officer. These were from the fight with Saint Antoine. The only other ship directly involved was Thames, which had no one killed or wounded. Except for Venerable, none of the other British ships had much damage.
The losses for the combined French and Spanish fleet were much, much higher. Formidable reported 20 killed and many wounded. Saint Antoine's losses were not reported but were thought to be very severe. But by far the biggest loss was on the two destroyed 112-gun ships. Each had about 1,000 men. Only just over 300 are known to have escaped to other ships. The loss of more than 1,700 Spanish sailors in this battle was one of the worst losses of life in a single sea event at that time.
Also, two Spanish frigates were damaged. The Sabina was hit by cannon fire during the night. One man was killed and five were wounded. It is not clear which ship fired on it. It might have been from one of the destroyed 112-gun ships, a case of friendly fire. In addition, the Spanish 34-gun frigate Perla was seen struggling off the North African coast on the morning of July 13. It sank later that day due to severe damage. No one knows how Perla got involved. It was not part of Moreno's group. None of the British ships reported fighting a frigate that night. Perla must have somehow gotten caught in the cross-fire during the darkness.
Results of the Battle
In Britain, the battle was celebrated. Saumarez was seen as having made up for his defeat six days earlier. He received thanks from both Houses of Parliament. He was also made a Knight of the Bath and given a yearly payment of £1,200 (which is about £66,000 today). The first officers of Caesar, Superb, and Venerable were promoted. The captured Saint Antoine was added to the Royal Navy as HMS San Antonio. However, it was old and small, so it was never used for front-line fighting. It stayed permanently at Portsmouth. Many years later, the battle was one of the actions recognized by the Naval General Service Medal. This medal was given to all British participants still alive in 1847.
In France, the battle was presented as a victory. This was mostly based on a report sent to Paris by Dumanoir le Pelley. It used a letter from Captain Troude. Troude claimed he had fought not only Venerable and Thames, but also Caesar and Spencer. Troude said he had driven all these ships away and completely destroyed Venerable by driving it ashore. He also claimed he waited nearby for hours, hoping to fight again. Because of these claims, Troude was promoted and highly praised. He later held important commands in the French Navy.
The battle's outcome was very important. It reversed the British defeat of July 6. It caused heavy losses to the Spanish fleet in Cadiz. It also trapped Linois in Cadiz. This confirmed British control of the Mediterranean Sea. The French plan to send more soldiers to Egypt was ruined. The British invasion fleet could operate freely and captured Egypt in September.
More broadly, the battle showed how much the Royal Navy controlled European waters. It stopped any attempts by France and its allies to carry out operations at sea. In Spain, the government was very angry about the losses for so little gain. They began to distance themselves from the alliance with France. This helped lead to the signing of the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802, which ended the French Revolutionary Wars. For the rest of the war, the British kept full control of the Mediterranean Sea and the Spanish coast. The Cadiz blockade stopped the French and Spanish forces there from sailing out.
See also
In Spanish: Segunda batalla de Algeciras para niños
