Combats of the Glorioso

Battles of the Glorioso

Combat of the Glorioso against HMS Dartmouth. Oil on canvas by Ángel Cortellini Sánchez, 1891.

Date	25 July – 19 October 1747
Location	1st: off the Azores Islands, Portugal 2nd: off the Galician coast, Spain 3rd and 4th: Near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal
Result	1st: Spanish victory 2nd: Spanish victory 3rd: Spanish victory 4th: Pyrrhic British victory Overall: Strategic Spanish victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

Spain

Commanders and leaders

John Crookshanks
John Hamilton †
Robert Erskine
George Walker
Matthew Buckle

Pedro Messia de la Cerda

Strength

4 ships of the line,
7 frigates,
2 brigs

70-gun ship of the line
Glorioso

Casualties and losses

1 ship of the line sunk
several ships damaged,
296-334 killed

Glorioso captured,
33 killed,
130 wounded (last combat)

The voyage of the Glorioso involved four naval engagements fought in 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession between the Spanish 70-gun ship of the line Glorioso and several British squadrons of ships of the line and frigates which tried to capture it. The Glorioso, carrying four million silver dollars from the Americas, was able to repel two British attacks off the Azores and Cape Finisterre, successfully landing her cargo at the port of Corcubión, Spain.

Several days after unloading the cargo, while sailing to Cadiz for repairs, Glorioso was attacked successively near Cape St Vincent by four British privateer frigates and the ships of the line HMS Dartmouth and HMS Russell from Admiral John Byng's fleet. The Dartmouth blew up killing most of her crew, but the 92-gun Russell eventually forced the Glorioso to strike the colours. The British took her to Lisbon, where she had to be broken up because of the extensive damage suffered during the last battle. The commander of the ship, Pedro Messia de la Cerda, and his men, were taken to Great Britain as prisoners, but were considered heroes in Spain and gained the admiration of their enemies. Several British officers were court-martialed and expelled from the Navy for their poor performance against the enemy.

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Wikipedia