Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797) 1797
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 14 February 1797 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1797 | 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 | Anglo-Spanish War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Spain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 37.0250, -8.9944 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a fleet action fought on 14 February 1797 between the British and Spanish navies off Cape St. Vincent in Portugal as part of the War of the First Coalition. In one of the opening battles of the recently declared war between Britain and Spain, a British fleet under Admiral of the Blue Sir John Jervis defeated a larger Spanish fleet under Lieutenant-general José de Córdoba y Ramos which had left Cádiz to confront the British navy. Commodore Horatio Nelson distinguished himself in the battle by boarding and capturing two Spanish ships of the line.
Córdoba's fleet ultimately suffered 430 killed and 856 wounded while having 4 ships of the line and 3,000 men captured, while the British suffered only 73 killed and 227 wounded. The defeated Spanish fleet returned to Cádiz where it was blockaded until the 1802 Peace of Amiens, while the 3,000 prisoners were landed in Portugal. Jervis and his officers were rewarded for the victory, which allowed British forces to return to the Mediterranean after evacuating the region in 1796, while Córdoba was dismissed from the Spanish Navy and forbidden from appearing at court.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797) (revision 1375988282), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1641) 1641 · 0 km
- Action of 30 September 1681 1681 · 0 km
- Action of 28 November 1751 1751 · 0 km
- Action of 18 March 1748 1748 · 4 km
- Battle of Lagos (1693) 1693 · 29 km
- Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) 1780 · 45 km
Other battles of the Anglo-Spanish War
- Action of 11 November 1779 1779
- Capture of Río Hondo 1779
- Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) 1780
- Battle of Roatán 1782
- Battle of the Black River 1782
- Action of 16 October 1799 1799
All 33 battles of the Anglo-Spanish War →
Browse more: battles in Portugal · Europe · Early modern battles