Invasion of Cuba (1741)

Invasion of Cuba

Castle of El Morro on Santiago de Cuba

Date	4–5 August – 9 December 1741
Location	Guantánamo Bay, Santiago de Cuba
Result	Spanish Victory

Belligerents

Great Britain

Spain

Commanders and leaders

Edward Vernon

Francisco de la Vega

Strength

Land:
4,000
Sea:
9 ships of the line
12 frigates and other warships
40 transports and storeships

Land:
950
Sea:
unknown naval forces

Casualties and losses

3445 killed, wounded or missing

400 killed or wounded,
3 warships captured

The invasion of Cuba took place between 4–5 August and 9 December 1741 during the War of Jenkins' Ear. A combined army and naval force under the command of Admiral Edward Vernon and Major-General Thomas Wentworth arrived off Cuba and fortified positions around their landing site at Cumberland Bay. Despite facing no serious opposition, neither commander felt prepared to advance on the Spanish settlement at Santiago de Cuba. Harassed by guerrilla raids and with a mounting sick list, the British finally evacuated the island after several months of inactivity.

Vernon had made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Cartagena in 1741, and after his repulse he directed the fragments of his sickly and dispirited followers against the island of Cuba. The south and east of Cuba were so little populated, and so far from the capital, Havana, that they might have made a permanent establishment there.

The land forces consisted of the remnants of the troops from Cartagena, some 3,000 British and North American colonial troops augmented by 1,000 Jamaican blacks. Vernon left Port Royal to capture Santiago de Cuba with the following ships:

HMS Boyne 80 (Flagship)
HMS Cumberland 80
HMS Grafton 70
HMS Kent 70
HMS Montague 60
HMS Tilbury 60
HMS Worcester 60
HMS Chester 50
HMS Tiger 50
HMS Experiment 20
HMS Sheerness 20
HMS Shoreham 20
HMS Alderney (Bomb vessel)
HMS Phaeton (Fireship)
HMS Strombolo (Fireship)
HMS Vesuvius (Fireship)
HMS Bonetta (Sloop)
HMS Tryton (Sloop)
HMS Princess Royal (Hospital ship)
HMS Scarborough (Hospital ship)
HMS Pompey (Tender)
40 Transports carrying 4,000 troops under Major-General Thomas Wentworth

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Wikipedia