Capture of Recife (1595)

Capture of Recife (1595)
Part of the Anglo–Spanish War
Recife in the early 17th century by Gillis Peeters
Date 30 March - April 1595 Location Atlantic Ocean, Recife, Pernambuco, Colonial Brazil Result English victory
Belligerents
Spain Portugal under Philip of Spain	England
Commanders and leaders
Jorge de Albuquerque Coelho	James Lancaster
Strength
350 soldiers and militia Unknown Indian allies	5 ships 30 prizes 400 soldiers & sailors
Casualties and losses
1 Galley frigate captured, 29 other prizes, Recife: 120 killed, wounded or captured 8 ships captured All stores captured	60 casualties or to disease 1 prize scuttled

 Spain

The Capture of Recife also known as James Lancaster's 1595 Expedition or Lancaster's Pernambucan expedition was an English military expedition during the Anglo–Spanish War in which the primary objective was the capture of the town and port of Recife in Pernambuco on the Portuguese colony of Brazil (then within the Iberian Union with Spain) in April 1595. An English expedition of ships led by James Lancaster sailed via the Atlantic capturing numerous prizes before he captured Recife. He held the place for nearly a month and then proceeded to defeat a number of Portuguese counterattacks before leaving. The booty captured was substantial, Lancaster chartered Dutch and French ships that were also present there thus making the expedition a military and financial success.

By virtue of the Iberian Union, the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 was in abeyance, and as the Anglo–Spanish War was still ongoing, attacks on Portuguese shipping and colonies were a fair target for the English The first ever English expedition under James Lancaster was attempted to the East Indies via Penang Island in June 1592. Remaining there until September Portuguese and Spanish ships were plundered which although highly profitable had been a near disaster in terms lives lost to storms and disease. Lancaster newly returned in 1593, decided on an expedition to Portuguese Brazil and tap the lucrative sugar and spice market. Lancaster mustered a small fleet of a joint stock venture in late 1594 with John Watts, Simon Boreman, Paul Bayning, John More, and William Shute as the leading investors. The fleet consisted of Consent of 350 tons owned by Watts, followed by Boreman's Saloman of 170 tons and Virgin of 60 tons; these were effectively armed merchant ships some of which had been used against the Spanish armada. Lancaster had been raised amongst the Portuguese, spoke the language and had been a trader with them before war had broken out.

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