Battle of San Juan de Ulúa (1568) 1568
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1568 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Mexico | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| Participants | Hispanic Monarchy, pirate | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 19.2075, -96.1325 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of San Juan de Ulúa was fought between English privateers and Spanish forces at San Juan de Ulúa (in modern Veracruz, Mexico). The English flotilla of six armed merchant ships under John Hawkins had been trading along the Spanish Main with the cooperation of local Spanish officials. However, the central Spanish authorities considered this to be illegal smuggling that violated the Treaty of Tordesillas (which England did not recognise).
Hawkins' fleet anchored at San Juan de Ulúa to resupply and repair following a storm. They were found there by two Spanish galleons carrying Martín Enríquez de Almanza, the newly appointed viceroy of New Spain. The two commanders agreed a truce that would allow both fleets to use the anchorage. The Spanish never intended to follow its terms and secretly prepared to attack the English ships. When the English became suspicious of the preparations, Spanish forces began their attack by capturing English cannons on the shore and attempted to board the English ships. The boarding parties were initially repulsed, but the shore cannons were turned against the English ships, causing heavy damage.
Two English vessels escaped, and the other four were either sunk or captured. The Spanish lost one ship.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of San Juan de Ulúa (1568) (revision 1374475058), 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.
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Browse more: battles in Mexico · North America · Early modern battles