Battle of Berlengas Islands

Part of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, after Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1590.

Date	15 July 1591
Location	Off the Berlengas Islands, Atlantic Ocean (present-day Portugal)
Result	Spanish victory

Belligerents

England

Spain

Commanders and leaders

Earl of Cumberland
William Monson (POW)

Francisco Coloma

Strength

5 warships

5 galleys

Casualties and losses

1 warship captured, 2 prizes recovered, "Captain and principal men slain", 150+ prisoners

2 killed

The Battle of Berlengas Islands was a naval battle which took place off the Portuguese coast on 15 July 1591, during the war between Elizabeth I of England and Philip II of Spain. It was fought between an English privateer squadron under George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, who had set out his fortunes by large-scale privateering, and a squadron of 5 Spanish galleys commanded by Francisco Coloma tasked of patrolling the Portuguese coast against privateers. While anchored off the Berlegnas, the English ships were surprised by the Spanish galleys, which succeeded in taking one English ship and rescuing two prizes.

Having undertaken naval expeditions to the coasts of Spain in 1587, 1588 and 1589, in the spring of 1591, the Earl of Cumberland sailed to Cape St. Vincent in a new privateering campaign with one royal ship, the 600-ton galleon Garland, and four of his own, the 260-ton Sampson, the Golden Noble, Allegarta, and the small pinnace Discovery.Sir William Monson of Stuart, later Admiral of the Royal Navy, was his second in command. Off the Spanish coast they took a pair of Dutch ships sailing from Lisbon with spices. Though the Dutch Republic was allied with England against the Spanish Crown, the ships taken by the English squadron had the goods of Portuguese merchants on board.

The English squadron took further prizes: one ship loaded with wine and two with sugar, which were sent back to England. One of these ships had a leak in the hull and was forced to cast off. Its boarding crew was saved on the shore. The two other vessels met contraty winds and, lacking of provisions, were obliged to enter the port of A Coruña, where they were immediately taken. The English squadron, meanwhile, sailed to the Berlengas islands, a group of small islands off the Portuguese coast near the city of Peniche. There, the Earl of Cumberland ordered Monson to escort the Dutch prizes to England with Captain Peter Baily's Golden Noble. During the night, however, Cumberland's Garland and the other warships fell separated from Monson and the prizes.

...
Wikipedia