Battle of Cap de la Roque 1703
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 22 May 1703 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1703 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Portugal | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the Spanish Succession | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Dutch Republic, France | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.7797, -9.5253 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Cap de la Roque took place on 22 May 1703 between an Anglo-Dutch convoy protected by a Dutch States Navy squadron under Captain Roemer Vlacq and a larger French Navy squadron under Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon during the War of the Spanish Succession. During the war the French and Spanish navies were largely unable to challenge their English and Dutch counterparts in fleet actions and therefore had switched to targeting merchant convoys, forcing the latter to protect them.
On 21 May 1703 a large convoy consisting of about 110 English and Dutch merchant ships transporting mainly salt, but also wine and sugar, left Lisbon bound for England. Vlacq's squadron comprised the ships of the line Muiderberg (52), Rotterdam (52), Gaesterland (46) and Schermer (44) and the frigate Rozendaal (36). Vlacq commanded the squadron onboard Muiderberg.
On 22 May the convoy encountered Coëtlogon's squadron, composed of the ships of the line Vainqueur (84), Monarque (90), Éole (64), Orgueilleux (90) and Couronne (76), off Cabo da Roca. Vlacq, after signalling the merchantmen to save themselves, lined up his ships to protect the convoy and engaged the French. The Dutch fought valiantly but the French were too strong and ship after ship had to capitulate.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Cap de la Roque (revision 1370436134), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Capture of Lisbon (1094) 1094 · 33 km
- Siege of Lisbon 1147 · 35 km
- Action of 11 November 1779 1779 · 37 km
- Battle of Alfarrobeira 1449 · 40 km
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Other battles of the War of the Spanish Succession
- Battle of Luzzara 1702
- Battle of Vigo Bay 1702
- Siege of Kaiserswerth 1702
- Siege of Landau (1702) 1702
- Siege of Venlo (1702) 1702
- Battle of Ekeren 1703
- Battle of Krottensee 1703
- Battle of Speyerbach 1703
- First Battle of Höchstädt 1703
- Siege of Bonn (1703) 1703
All 61 battles of the War of the Spanish Succession →
Browse more: battles in Portugal · Europe · Early modern battles