Pedro Messia de la Cerda

Pedro Messía Corea de la Cerda, 2nd Marquis of Vega de Armijo (February 16, 1700 in Córdoba, Spain – 1783 in Madrid) was a Spanish naval officer and colonial official. From 1761 to 1773 he was viceroy of New Granada (present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador).

Pedro Messía Corea de la Cerda was a knight of the Gran Cruz de Justicia of the Order of San Juan, gentleman of the king's bedchamber, and knight commander of the Golden Key. He entered the navy, participating in the conquest of Sardinia and the reconquest of Sicily. In 1719 he took part in various battles with the English.

He made his first voyage to the Americas in 1720, and in 1721 he was involved in the suppression of smuggling in Cartagena and Portobelo. In 1726 he was promoted to lieutenant of a frigate, and in 1745 he was made captain.

In 1747 de la Cerda was Captain of the ship of the line Glorioso, during this time occurred the famous Voyage of the Glorioso or the battles of the Glorioso, this were four naval engagements fought 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 the crew, but the 92-gun Russell, finally 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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