Battle off Lizard Point

Battle between Dutch and Spanish men-of-war. Oil on copper, Naval Museum of Madrid.

Date	18 February 1637
Location	Off Lizard Point, Cornwall, England
Result	Spanish victory

Belligerents

Dutch Republic

Spain

Commanders and leaders

Unknown

Admiral Miguel de Horna

Strength

6 men-of-war
44 merchant ships

6 galleons
2 frigates

Casualties and losses

3 warships sunk
3 warships captured
14 merchant ships
captured

No ships lost

The Battle off Lizard Point was a naval action which took place on 18 February 1637 off the coast of Cornwall, England, during the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish admiral Miguel de Horna, commander of the Armada of Flanders, intercepted an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them, and returned safely to his base in Dunkirk.

In early 1636, the experienced Flemish admiral, Jacob Collaert, commander of the Armada of Flanders, the fleet of the Dunkirkers, was defeated by five warships of the Dutch blocking fleet under Captain Johan Evertsen. His galleon and another vessel were sunk after a prolonged engagement off the French coast, near Dieppe, and he was captured along with 200 of his men. After an exchange of prisoners he was freed, but died of an illness at A Coruña shortly after. The Navarrese Miguel de Horna replaced him. Horna also proved to be a skillful commander, as he destroyed three major enemy convoys in less than two years, winning the actions of the Lizard, Mardyck and the Channel.

Miguel de Horna sailed from Dunkirk on 18 February, in command of a squadron of five ships and two frigates, to attack the Dutch fishing fleet and trade routes. His captains were the Basque Antonio de Anciondo, the Flemish Marcus van Oben and Cornelis Meyne, and the Castilians Antonio Díaz and Salvador Rodríguez. After capturing a merchant ship while under fire from the coastal batteries of Calais, the Spanish squadron crossed the English Channel. An Anglo-Dutch convoy of 28 Dutch merchantmen and 16 English merchantmen, escorted by six Dutch warships, was sighted off Lizard Point, on the coast of Cornwall. The Spanish warships rapidly proceeded to attack, approaching the convoy under heavy fire from the escorting warships.

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Wikipedia