Battle of Albrolhos
| Battle of Albrolhos (1631) | |||||||
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| Part of the Eighty Years' War and the Dutch-Portuguese War |
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 The Battle of Abrolhos circa 1640, by Juan de la Corte. Oil on canvas. Naval Museum of Madrid. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Provinces
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Antonio de Oquendo
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Adrian Jansz Pater † Maerten Thijssen
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| Strength | |||||||
| 20 warships (5 Unarmed) |
16 warships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 galleon sunk 1 galleon captured 500 dead and 100 wounded |
Flagship Prins Willem sunk 1 or 2 other ships sunk From 350 dead and 80 wounded to about 2,000 casualties |
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The naval Battle of the Abrolhos took place on 12 September 1631 off the coast of Bahía, Brazil (near the Abrolhos Archipelago), during the Eighty Years' War. A joint Spanish-Portuguese fleet under Admiral Oquendo defeated the Dutch after a six-hour naval battle.
On 5 May 1631 Basque Spanish Admiral Oquendo left Lisbon with a fleet of about 20 men-of-war. He carried reinforcements to Paraíba, Pernambuco and Bahia. On his way back to Portugal, he was to convoy ships loaded with sugar. So as to allow the Dutch extra time to get ready, he headed first for Bahia. Once the Dutch learned of his coming, their fleet in Pernambuco, led by admiral Adrian Pater, sailed to intercept the Spanish convoy. Despite Pater had 33 ships at Pernambuco, he left 17 in port as he considered only 8 of Oquendo’s to be battleworthy. Finally, on September 12, the two fleets met around the cays.
De Oquendo exited Baía de Todos os Santos with his 44-gun, 900-ton flagship Santiago de Oliste and 28-gun, 700-ton vice-flagship San Antonio; 30-gun Nuestra Señora de la Concepción; 28-gun Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso; 26-gun Nuestra Señora de la Anunciada;24-gun San Carlos; 22-gun San Buenaventura; 20-gun San Blas, San Francisco and San Pedro,; 18-gun San Bartolomé, and San Martín; plus the requisitioned French pinnaces Lion Doré of 10 guns (renamed San Antonio), and Saint Pierre of 8 guns (renamed San pedro). These Spanish men-of-war are accompanied by the 28-gun Portuguese warship São Jorge; 20-gun Santiago; 19.gun São João Baptista; 18-gun Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (Maior), and Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (Menor); plus the unarmed Nossa Senhora da Boa Nova, Nossa Senhora do Rozário, Santo António, Santa Cruz, and São Jerónimo.
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