Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805) 1805
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 22 July 1805 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1805 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Trafalgar Campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | First French Empire, Kingdom of Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 42.8941, -9.2711 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
In the Battle of Cape Finisterre (22 July 1805) off Galicia, Spain, the British fleet under Admiral Robert Calder fought an indecisive naval battle against the combined Franco-Spanish fleet which was returning from the West Indies. In the ensuing battle the British captured two Spanish ships of the line, but failed to prevent the joining of French Vice-admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve's fleet to the squadron of Ferrol and to strike the shattering blow that would have freed Great Britain from the danger of an invasion. Calder was later court-martialled and severely reprimanded for his failure and for avoiding the renewal of the engagement on 23 and 24 July. At the same time, in the aftermath Villeneuve elected not to continue on to Brest, where his fleet could have joined with other French ships to clear the English Channel for an invasion of Great Britain.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805) (revision 1370108565), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Action of 20 October 1778 1778 · 2 km
- Action of 10 August 1805 1805 · 3 km
- Second Battle of Cape Finisterre 1747 · 11 km
- Battle of Muros Bay 1543 · 27 km
- Battle of Bayona Islands (1590) 1590 · 80 km
- Battle of Puente Sanpayo 1809 · 81 km
Other battles of the Trafalgar Campaign
- Battle of Trafalgar 1805
Browse more: battles in Spain · Europe · 19th century battles