Action of 6 May 1801

The Action and Capture of the Spanish Xebeque Frigate El Gamo by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield

Date	6 May 1801
Location	Off Barcelona (Spain)
Result	British victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of Spain

Great Britain

Commanders and leaders

Don Francisco de Torris

Lord Cochrane

Strength

1 frigate

1 Brig

Casualties and losses

1 frigate captured,
14 killed and 41 wounded,
261 Spanish sailors captured.

3 killed and 9 wounded

The Action of 6 May 1801 was a minor naval engagement between the 32-gun xebec-frigate El Gamo of the Spanish Navy under the command of Don Francisco de Torris and the much smaller 14-gun brig HMS Speedy under the command of Thomas, Lord Cochrane. El Gamo was subsequently captured. The skirmish is notable for the large disparity between the size and firepower of El Gamo and Speedy - the former was around four times the size, had much greater firepower and a crew six times the size of Speedy, which had a reduced crew of 54 at the time of the engagement.

In March 1800 Commander Lord Cochrane took command of Speedy; he had been operating in the Mediterranean and had fought many actions from its base in Port Mahon in Menorca.

Speedy was cruising off Barcelona at dawn on 6 May 1801 when a large enemy frigate was sighted. The frigate, a xebec-rigged vessel named Gamo, commanded by Don Francisco de Torris and carrying 319 men, was armed with 8- and 12-pounder guns, with 24-pounder carronades. This amounted to a total broadside of 190 pounds, more than seven times that of Speedy. ("Cochrane the Dauntless" (2007) gives Gamo "22 long 12-pounders, 8 9-pounders and 2 heavy carronades") Furthermore, Cochrane had only 54 men on board Speedy, having men away as prize crews.

Instead of evading the Spanish frigate, Cochrane closed on her, and at 9.30 am Gamo fired a gun and hoisted Spanish colours. In return Cochrane hoisted American colours. The Spanish hesitated, allowing Cochrane to get closer, hoist British colours, and evade the first broadside. Gamo fired another, which Cochrane again evaded, holding fire until Speedy ran alongside her and locked her yards in her rigging.Gamo attempted to fire upon her smaller opponent, but her guns were mounted too high and could not be depressed sufficiently, causing their shot to pass through Speedy's sails and rigging. Cochrane then opened fire with his 4-pounders double- and treble-shotted, their shots passing up through the sides and decks, the first broadside killing the Spanish captain and boatswain.

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Wikipedia