Battle of Cape St. Vincent – 14 February 1797

by | Jan 23, 2025 | 1797, The French Revolutionary War 1793-1802 | 2 comments

 

In the first major naval battle for nearly three years, a British fleet under Sir John Jervis took on and defeated a larger Spanish force in a clash that first brought Horatio Nelson to the public eye.

The Battle of Cape St. Vincent

On 11 February 1797 the British frigate Minerve 38, Captain George Cockburn, flying the broad pennant of Commodore Horatio Nelson, set sail from Gibraltar with a favourable breeze. Nelson, who had recently returned to the Rock from supervising the evacuation of Elba, was desperate to rejoin Admiral Sir John Jervis and the Mediterranean Fleet off the south-west coast of the Iberian Peninsula, as he had gained intelligence that a Spanish fleet was heading for the Atlantic. Time was clearly of the essence, and with such important information to impart it was vital that nothing hinder his mission.

The Minerve had barely worked out of the harbour before she found herself pursued by two Spanish sail of the line and a frigate. One of the Spaniards , the Terrible 74 began to close on the Minerve, and it appeared that the crowds who had massed on the shoreline at Algeciras would soon witness the inevitable capture of the British frigate. Then a seaman employed aloft aboard the Minerve suddenly fell overboard. Nelson, despite the huge risk that any delay would have on the Minerve’s vital mission, ordered Lieutenant Thomas Masterman Hardy (who had only been exchanged as a prisoner of war hours earlier) to take a ship’s boat and recover the man. A fruitless search followed, but as Hardy and his crew attempted to rejoin the Minerve against the westerly Straits current, they found themselves being gradually overhauled by the leading Spanish ship. Nelson cried, ‘By God, I’ll not lose Hardy’ and backed the mizzen-topsail; the Minerve drifted down on the jolly boat and Hardy and his men scrambled back aboard. The Spanish interpreted the Minerve’s actions as indicating a British fleet was coming to her support, and the Terrible dropped back to await her consorts. Nelson’s gamble in stopping had paid off – the Minerve was able to escape, leaving the Spanish out of sight astern by sunset

This was not the end of her close shaves however, for that same night the Minerve found herself surrounded by huge shapes in the fog, which her officers at first thought might have been a British convoy. They soon realised that they were in the middle of the Spanish fleet, but under Cockburn’s careful guidance the Minerve sailed right through the enemy force without being challenged. At 10.30 a.m. on the 13th she joined Jervis off Cape St. Vincent, and that evening Nelson returned to his own ship, the Captain 74.

On the next day, 14 February 1797, the Battle of Cape St. Vincent would be fought, and no doubt emboldened by his recent success in taking risks in the face of the enemy, Nelson would take an even greater gamble. It would be one that would enshrine his name forever in the public memory and would swathe him in the glory that he so desperately craved.

Opening Moves

A Spanish fleet of twenty-six ships of the line and nine frigates under the command of Vice-Admiral Don José de Cordova y Rosas had set sail from Cartagena on 1 February, having been ordered to sea by the Chief Minister, Manuel de Godoy at French insistence. The force consisted of one four-decker (the mighty Santisima Trinidad 136), six 112-gun three-deckers, two ships of 84 guns, and seventeen of 74 guns. Cordova’s instructions were to escort a convoy of four mercury vessels, together with the warship San Domingo 58, which was also carrying mercury, from Malaga to Cadiz. He was then to sail for Brest and join forces with a French fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Justin Bonaventure Morard de Galles. The ultimate goal was reportedly to cover an attempted invasion of the British Isles by French, Dutch and Spanish armies under General Lazare Louis Hoche.

Admiral Sir John Jervis

Although the Spanish (with the Cadiz convoy in company) had miraculously failed to spot the Minerve on the night of 11 February, they had seen and chased the storeship Dromedary, Commander Bartholemew James, but had been unable to effect her capture. The Spanish were then blown away from Cadiz out into the Atlantic by strong easterly winds, while James took news of their 13 February passage through the Straits to Jervis. The British fleet, fifteen sail of the line, were stationed some twenty miles off Cape St. Vincent, having recently escorted a Brazil-bound convoy south to a safe latitude.

The reason for Jervis’ Mediterranean Fleet being off station was that the recent Franco-Spanish alliance had forced his ships to retreat to Lisbon, leaving that sea open to the enemy. The fleet had also suffered a number of misfortunes in recent weeks. Five ships of the line had been lost or put out of action by accidents – wrecked, grounded or damaged by collision. However, as a result of the failure of the recent French attempt to invade Ireland, it had been possible to reinforce Jervis with five sail of the line from the Channel Fleet. These ships (the Prince George 98, Namur 90, Orion 74, Irresistible 74 and Colossus 74) had arrived on 6 February under Rear-Admiral William Parker.

At 2.30 a.m. on a foggy St. Valentines Day morning, the Scottish commander of the Portuguese frigate Carlotta, Donald Campbell, informed Jervis that he had seen the Spanish fleet some fifteen miles to windward. From 3 a.m. on the Spanish signal guns could be clearly heard in the British fleet. At 5.30 a.m. the Niger 32, Captain Edward Foote, joined Jervis informing him that she had been shadowing the Spanish for several days and that their fleet was about ten miles away. Then at 7 a.m. the outlying frigate Lively 32, Captain Lord Garlies, spotted elements of the Spanish fleet to windward fifteen miles away in the south-west, with their line extending to the south. At this point they were some twenty-five miles off Cape St. Vincent, and when the mists occasionally parted, the Monchique mountains could be seen in the distance.

For their part the Spanish did not know of Jervis’ reinforcement by Rear-Admiral Parker; the latest information Cordova had (from an American ship) was that the British fleet numbered just nine ships. Cordova, anticipating entering Cadiz with the convoy and assuming the enemy fleet was far smaller than his (the British were shrouded by the early morning fog), did not think it necessary to form his fleet into a line of battle and his ships were thus in some disorder.

As the wind veered to the south-west and the mist began dissipating, Jervis shaped a southerly course in two columns towards the Spanish. At 9.30 he ordered the Prince George 98, Blenheim 98 and Culloden 74 to reconnoitre the enemy. Shortly afterwards three other 74s (Orion, Irresistible and Colossus) followed suit.

Up until this time, the actual size of the Spanish fleet had not been evident, but By 10.30, the sloop Bonne Citoyenne, which had been sent out to reconnoitre, had counted the majority of the enemy ships, and once she was satisfied that no more were in sight she began signalling nineteen minutes later. Receiving her report,the captain of the fleet, Robert Calder, grew ever gloomier and exclaimed ‘There are twenty-seven sail of the line, Sir John, near twice our number. ’Enough Sir, no more of that!’ replied the bullish admiral. ‘The die is cast and if there are fifty sail I will go through them.’ Jervis was determined to achieve a victory whatever the odds in order to restore the morale of the country. The burly Captain Benjamin Hallowell, late of the wrecked Courageux 74, and serving as a volunteer aboard the flagship, forgot himself so much as to delightedly thump the commander-in-chief on the back. ‘That’s right Sir John – that’s right. By God, we shall give them a damned good licking!’

Despite the numerical disparity, Jervis actually had few reservations about giving battle. His confidence was based on his belief in his own ships, which had been brought to a high degree of efficiency under his severe discipline, and on information gathered by Lieutenant Hardy during his recent imprisonment at Cartagena, who had learned that the Spanish crews were desperately inexperienced. Indeed, such was the lack of seamen that many of the crews were made up with soldiers and the sweepings of the gaols. Cordova had only assumed the command of the fleet in January after Admiral Don José de Langara had been dismissed for putting into Cartagena on 6 December, claiming that the ships were unfit to sail for Brest. Subsequently the best officer in the Spanish service, Rear-Admiral Don José de Massaredo, had refused the command for the same reason. Clearly the senior officers understood the situation better than the Spanish government and its French allies.

Into Battle

 As the Spanish began to appreciate the actual British strength, Cordova realised that both his van (under the command of Vice-Admiral Joaquin Moreno), and the mercury convoy a long way to leeward, would need to be protected from the threat presented by the British fleet. At 10.30 he decided to wear ship, turning his fleet towards the approaching enemy, while maintaining the order of his line, such as it was. Now the inexperience of his men became obvious, for in executing this manoeuvre to bring the head of the main column around to the north-east, Moreno’s ships (Principe de Asturias 112, Conde de Regla 112, San Fermin 74, San Isidro 74 and Oriente 74) became separated from the rest of the fleet, leaving the Spanish ships divided into two groups. In addition, several other vessels were absent from the main body of the fleet. Two ships, (the Neptuno 84 and Bahama 74), which had been sent to Algeciras with a number of transports, were racing up from the south, but they would not be able to join their consorts until the afternoon. Two other vessels, the San Pablo 74 and Infante Don Pelayo 74, had been surprisingly detached by Cordova that morning to investigate the British scouting vessels, which given the number of frigates he had available would later be a much-criticised decision. Therefore, by mid-morning 18 Spanish sail of the line were to windward, heading toward the British, while Moreno’s five, and the other four detached vessels were well to leeward. .

The belligerent Captain Thomas Troubridge of the Culloden

At 11.10 a.m. Jervis, realising the threat that the Spanish main body of 18 ships posed to his own windward column, reformed his ships into a single line of battle behind Captain Thomas Troubridge of the Culloden 74, which was followed by the Blenheim 98, Prince George 98 (Parker’s flagship), Orion 74, and Colossus 74. The British van raced south south-westerly on the starboard tack to occupy the three-mile gap between the Spanish main body to windward, and the scattered ships to leeward. One of the latter, the San Isidro 74, wore ship in order to pass astern of the British line and join Cordova’s main column. As the Spaniard sailed past, the frigate Lively (one of four accompanying the British fleet) fired a single shot that killed five men, and in return received a harmless broadside into her rigging. The San Isidro was then to successfully join the main body of the Spanish fleet.

Aboard the Culloden at the head of the British line, the first lieutenant, Anselm Griffiths, advised his captain that they were likely to collide with one of the enemy ships as they closed on the gap between the two Spanish divisions. ‘Can’t help it Griffiths’, replied the indomitable Troubridge, ‘let the weakest fend off’. At 11.30 the Culloden opened fire on the leading Spanish ship to leeward, Moreno’s flagship the Principe de Asturias 112, with a perfectly disciplined broadside at point blank range. Troubridge then set his sights on the Conde de Regla 112, the huge three-decked flagship of the French émigré, Rear-Admiral Claude-François Renart, Marquis d’Amblimont . This vessel sheered away from the belligerent Culloden but still received two double-shotted broadsides.

Meanwhile to windward, the 18 ships representing the main body of the Spanish fleet was still in some confusion from their earlier problems in wearing, with vessels two or three abreast, so that many would be unable to engage the British without firing through their compatriots. However, it was clear they were heading north north-east in order to work around the British rear to join Moreno’s group, and so at 12.08 Jervis signalled his fleet to tack in succession to engage this main group. The Culloden (which had been anticipating this order) immediately pivoted towards the north-west. ‘Look at Troubridge there!’ exclaimed Jervis. ‘He tacks his ship in battle as if the eyes of England were upon him’.

The ships following the Culloden (Prince George, Orion, and Colossus) had by now also been heavily engaged with the leeward Spaniards, but although the first two succeeded in following Troubridge onto the new course, the foreyard and foretopsail yard of the Colossus had been shot away, causing her to miss stays. . This damage left her motionless at the mercy of the Spanish leeward group, particularly the Principe de Asturias 112, which had bravely moved up to attack the British as they tacked to the northwest, thereby giving Cordova some additional time in which to bring his division to order. Whilst the Minerve stood by to take the Colossus in tow, Captain James Saumarez in the Orion backed his main topsail to slow down and provide Captain Murray with enough support to keep the Colossus from falling victim to Moreno. The next ship in the line, the Irresistible, then had to fight off both the Principe de Asturias and Conde de Regla before she could tack and join the Culloden and Parker’s van as they raced up the inside of the Spanish windward column.

As the battle stood at 12.30

As the Victory, seventh in the British line, approached the point at which she would need to tack, she also backed sail in order to engage the ships of the Spanish leeward group. The Principe de Asturias came almost within pistol shot before Moreno put his helm down, allowing Jervis’ flagship to unleash a raking broadside that shot away her wheel and disabled her rudder. Unable to steer, the Spanish ship described a circle, receiving another raking broadside that drove her off to leeward. During the encounter, Moreno’s men returned fire, causing casualties on the British ship – Jervis became covered in the blood and brains of a decapitated seaman. When his flag captain George Grey expressed concern, the admiral is said to have brushed it off: ‘I am not at all hurt, but do George, try if you can get me an orange.’

At 12.45 the Victory completed her turn. The ships immediately behind her, the Egmont 74 and Goliath 74 had also engaged the two Spanish three-deckers to leeward, causing Moreno to forgo any further attempt to break the British line and decide instead to rejoin the main body of the Spanish fleet to windward. At one o’clock he headed off into the wind in order to sail south of the British line and rejoin his comrades who were pushing north-east. Having already seen the San Fermin 74 retreat to the south-east with all sail set he soon lost the support of the Oriente 74, which in passing to leeward of the British line was attacked by four frigates led by the Lively.

Meanwhile, despite being heavily outnumbered after coming about, the British van of five ships under Rear-Admiral Parker were concentrating their fire on the southernmost Spanish vessels of the main body to windward. The Culloden began engaging them at 1.00 p.m. and the Blenheim followed suit ten minutes later. To the north however, the Spanish van under Cordova was still attempting to sail around the rear of the British line to rendezvous with Moreno to leeward, but with the admiral’s signals being unseen, misunderstood, or even disobeyed the line remained in much disorder.  At 12.50 Jervis signalled Vice-Admiral Charles Thompson, commanding the five ships in the British rear, to tack in succession and move to assist the van rather than following in the track of the leading ships before tacking. For some reason, Thompson did not respond to this order, but on board the Captain 74, third from the British rear, Commodore Nelson recognised the intent of the signal. On the spur of the moment, he decided to use his initiative and wear out of the line to block Cordova from passing behind the British, with the intent of holding him up until the van arrived.

Passing at 1.15 between the last two ships in the British line, the Diadem and Excellent, Nelson manoeuvred the Captain across the path of the huge Spanish flagship Santisima Trinidad 130. She was supported by five other vessels: the Salvador del Mundo 112, Mexicano 112 San José 112, San Nicolas 84 and San Isidro 74. The Captain began engaging this group at 1.30, and was almost immediately joined by the Culloden, and fifteen minutes later by the Blenheim, Prince George, and Orion, Parker’s ships that had fought their way north on the leeward side of the Spanish line. The Spanish van under the command of Count Morales de los Rios maintained its north-westerly course after failing to respond to Cordova’s frantic signal that every ship should seek an opponent as quickly as possible, but concentrating on the vessels that had been delayed by the Captain’s manoeuvre, the British ships were able to inflict great damage on the San Isidro and Salvador del Mundo in particular. The Irresistible soon joined the melée, but there was a significant delay before more ships arrived, due to the mishap to the Colossus and the Victory’s entanglement with the Principe de Asturias

Jervis was delighted with Nelson’s manoeuvre, but he fumed at Thompson’s failure to follow it with the remaining ships of his division, which still pursued their south-westerly course. Thus at 1.29 he signalled the rear ships to each come about onto the port tack, which they began to do to the best of their ability. Meanwhile the Barfleur, Egmont, Goliath and Namur sailed into the fray behind Jervis’ flagship. The Diadem then fell in astern of Parker’s van whilst the partially disabled Colossus and Thompson’s dull sailing flagship Britannia lagged behind to the south.

In the melée around Parker’s division, the well-disciplined British ships were able to hold their own against their huge Spanish opponents. Shortly after 2.30 the scales tipped in favour of the British when Captain Cuthbert Collingwood’s crack ship Excellent 74 arrived on the scene, took up a position ahead of the Victory, and poured several devastating broadsides into the enemy. The three-decked Salvador del Mundo 112 soon struck her colours to Collingwood, but he decided to refrain from taking possession while other enemies remained to be engaged. As a result, the Spanish ship re-hoisted her colours shortly afterwards to fight on. At 2.53. the Excellent received the surrender of the San Isidro – again Collingwood did not spend time taking possession, and instead the frigate Lively was ordered up to fulfil this task. At 3 p.m., the Excellent sailed on to blast both the San José 112 and the San Nicolas 80, which had already been hammered by the Culloden, Prince George and Blenheim. Collingwood actually sailed between the Spanish vessels and the Captain with whom they were engaged. Finally, the Excellent ranged up on the massive Santisima Trinidad and attacked the four-decker, supported by the Orion. As the Blenheim had already severely damaged the Trinidad in a mutual battering, the Spanish flagship with her inexperienced crew was soon reduced to little more than a floating wreck.

Captain Cuthbert Collingwood of the aptly names Excellent.

In the middle of the struggle, the Captain had lost her fore and mizzen masts, and her sprit-sail yard was hanging over the San Nicolas’ poop deck, Unable to manoeuvre his ship, Nelson decided to board the shattered Spanish vessel. To the dismay of Captain Ralph Miller, whom he ordered to remain behind, the commodore joined a boarding party led by Captain Edward Berry (who was serving aboard the ship as a volunteer). While Berry clambered up the mizzen chains, Nelson got aboard the Spanish ship through the quarter-galley window and soon the beaten ship was taken, although not without a fierce resistance from the Spanish that saw a number of men on both sides become casualties. Nelson then turned his attention to the San José, which was lying beyond the San Nicolas. The two Spanish ships had fallen foul of each other as a result of Collingwood’s fire and a furious attack by Parker, who believed that the San José had already struck to his flagship. Ignoring small arms fire from the San José’s stern gallery and calling for more men to come over from the Captain, Nelson was assisted up the main chains by Berry to find a Spanish officer looking down from the quarterdeck rail to say that they had surrendered. The other officers on deck gave up their sword. How this abject surrender would have been viewed by their gallant admiral, Don Francisco Xavier Winthuysen y Pineda, who had lost an arm during the American Revolutionary War, and was lying mortally wounded below, having lost both his legs, is perhaps beyond conjecture, but suffice to say a later report on the conduct of the San José’s officers was far from complimentary.

At 3.30 Captain Saumarez of the Orion despatched his first lieutenant, John Luce, to take possession of the Salvador del Mundo. The ship had earlier struck to the Excellent, then re-hoisted her colours but to no avail. Not only had the Spaniard suffered an hour’s pounding from Parker’s division, but she had also been engaged by the Irresistible, Diadem, and Barfleur whilst receiving a raking fire from the Victory. (Regrettably, Luce would later be court martialled and dismissed the Navy after being found guilty of allowing his men to plunder the Spanish vessel). The dull-sailing and largely ineffective Santisima Trinidad, battered by the Captain and the Culloden, having lost her fore and mizzen masts, and with up to 300 casualties, apparently surrendered to the Orion at 4.55. However, she was rescued by the resourcefulness and bravery of the Infante Don Pelayo which took on the ships attacking her with the support of the San Pablo, Conde de Regla and Principe de Asturias, together with the two latecomers from Algeciras, the Neptuno 84 and Bahama 74.

At 5 p.m. Nelson shifted his pennant from the battered Captain to the Irresistible in the hope of continuing the battle, but with so many of the enemy still at large, Jervis wisely decided to gather his fleet around him at sunset in order to protect his four prizes and his own damaged ships. The San Isidro and Salvador del Mundo were taken in tow by the Diadem and Lively respectively, the San José by the Niger, and the disabled Captain by the Minerve. The prize crew was able to sail the fourth capture, the San Nicolas, without assistance.

Aftermath

The fleets remained in sight of each other during the 15th, in the course of which day the British briefly hoisted Spanish colours in honour of the death of Admiral Winthuysen. Although Cordova did make a show of moving in to attack the British at 2.30. in the afternoon, he withdrew when Jervis formed a line of battle. Despite their efforts to reach Cadiz, on the 18th a significant portion of the Spanish fleet, including the crippled Santisima Trinidad, was still off Cape St. Vincent. The Trinidad’s location and appalling condition were reported to Jervis, who had returned to Lagos Bay on the evening of the 16th. The next evening, he despatched a light squadron under the command of Captain Velters Berkeley of the frigate Emerald 36, together with the frigates Minerve 38 and Niger 32 and the sloops Raven and Bonne Citoyenne, to seek her out. At 3 p.m. three days later this squadron discovered the giant four-decker about eighty miles to the south south-east of Cape St. Vincent under a jury-rig and being towed by a frigate. The three British frigates came up to the Spaniard in the teeth of the easterly gale, and presently the Minerve was in position to attack. The Spanish frigate cast off her tow and stood away to the southward, allowing the Minerve to luff under the four-decker’s stern and rake her without reply. At this point however a strange sail was seen in the distance – Captain Berkeley’s nerve gave way, and the Minerve was ordered to rejoin the Emerald. Once night came on, the Santisima Trinidad was able to make good her escape.

Captain Berkeley would later be castigated by the newspapers for his failure to tackle the Spanish four-decker, and indeed it was only the support of Captain Cockburn of the Minerve, declaring that the circumstances had warranted his frigate hauling off, which prevented Berkeley facing a court martial. Nevertheless, Berkeley soon announced his retirement. Meanwhile the Terpsichore 32, commanded by the exemplary Captain Richard Bowen, who had earlier fallen in with and then become detached from Berkeley’s squadron, came across the Santisima Trinidad near the African coast at 7 p.m. on 28 February. After attempting over two days to hang off her stern and rake her, he was forced to give up the chase when more Spanish ships appeared off Cape Spartel.

By then Jervis’ victory dispatch, written aboard the Victory in Lagos Bay two days after the battle, had been sent to England under the care of Captain Robert Calder, who took passage in the Lively, arriving in London on the morning of Saturday 3 March. (Captain Hallowell carried duplicates of the dispatch separately). Jervis’ report gave a brief description of the battle but made no mention of Nelson’s part, nor indeed of any other officers, bar Calder in his role as the bearer of the dispatches. That evening, as illuminations lit up London, Henry Dundas, the secretary of state for war, proposed a vote of thanks in the House of Commons to the admirals, (including Nelson who had been promoted rear-admiral in line with seniority six days after the battle), the captains, officers, seamen and marines in the fleet, and he was seconded by the leading opposition politician, Charles James Fox. The House of Lords passed a similar vote of thanks five days later. Later when honours were bestowed on the heroes, Jervis, who received the greatest praise, was invested as the Earl of St. Vincent and awarded a 3,000-guinea pension, his subordinate admirals Thompson and Parker became baronets, Nelson was created a Knight of the Bath and Calder was knighted. Vice-Admiral Waldegrave, already the son of an earl, rejected the award of a baronetcy, which was inferior to that of his own standing in the peerage, but in due course he accepted the position of governor and commander-in-chief at Newfoundland.

On the Spanish side Admiral Cordova, who although he had fought the flawed Santisima Trinidad bravely had made a poor fist of conducting his fleet, composed a report on the performances of his individual ships, and it was particularly damning of his ineffectual vanguard. Just seven ships were considered to have fought with effort and determination in their allotted positions, these being the Santisima Trinidad, San José, Salvador del Mundo, San Isidro, San Nicolas, Soberano and Mexicano. Five ships were considered to have fought courageously when the state of the battle had allowed them to, these being the Principe de Asturias, Infante Don Pelayo, San Pablo, Conde de Regla, and Oriente. The remaining eleven ships, discounting the Terrible, Santo Domingo, Neptuno and Bahama, but mostly consisting of Count de los Rios’ van, were castigated for a mixture of failing to obey signals and lukewarm participation in the battle.

As for Cordova himself, he was arrested as soon as the Santisima Trinidad entered Cadiz, and taken to Madrid under an escort of cavalry. He and his key senior officers – second-in-command, Count Morales des Los Rios of the Concepción, and Captains Don Gonzale Vallejo of the Atlante, Don Juan de Agairre of the Glorioso, Don Joseph de Torres of the San Fermin, and Don Augustine Villavicienze of the San Genaro – were court martialled and dismissed the service. He and Rios were also banned from court and prohibited from entering any principle coastal towns, whilst Moreno was stripped of his titles. The command of the remaining fleet in Cadiz, which was to remain blockaded in that port for another two years, now passed to the previously reluctant Rear-Admiral Massaredo.

Nelson receives the surrender of the San Josef

In terms of casualties, the Spanish had lost 430 men killed including the marquis d’Amblimont, and about 860 wounded, whilst the British had lost 73 men killed and 227 wounded, including 23 killed and 54 wounded aboard the Captain alone. Jervis landed two thousand three hundred prisoners on parole at Lagos, where the Spanish government chose to accept them back into their navy without requiring them to fulfil the terms of the parole. This gross affront to the rules of war prompted a furious Jervis to announce that he would offer no mercy to any of the men if they were re-captured. Of the prizes taken by the British, only the San José actually went to sea again, becoming Nelson’s flagship in the Channel Fleet some four years later. For many years the Salvador del Mundo served as the flagship at Plymouth, whilst the San Isidro and San Nicolas, both of which were almost thirty years old, never saw active service

Though Nelson had fought bravely and brilliantly, with his quick-witted intervention ultimately securing the extent of the British victory, he could not help embellishing his role in the battle. Learning that the Lively was to carry Calder home with the admiral’s despatches, he hastened aboard her to deliver his version of the engagement, claiming to have fought the Spanish van for an hour with only the support of the Culloden. He also overstated his role in capturing the San Nicolas and then the San José; later he enjoyed the joke, calling the San Nicolas his ‘patent bridge for boarding first rates’. He accorded his friend Collingwood at least some credit, and there was a mention of Captain Frederick’s Blenheim, but his description of events published in the newspapers from 20 March so enraged Rear-Admiral Parker that on 25 July he wrote a stinging letter to Nelson claiming that the commodore had taken all the credit to the detriment of Parker’s ships. The fact that Parker and the other ships of the van had arrived to support the Captain within fifteen minutes, and had then pulverised the Spanish without attempting to take possession of them, was corroborated by the captain of the fleet, Calder. He had disapproved of Nelson’s unauthorized manoeuvre and made a point of telling the King that Collingwood was the hero of the hour – after all, the Excellent, had forced the surrender of two Spanish vessels without actually taking possession of them. Yet being a modest man, Collingwood did not seek glory, and his only wish was that the unfairness at being overlooked for a medal at the Battle of the Glorious First of June almost three years earlier be addressed. He and all the other admirals and ship of the line captains received the coveted Naval Gold Medal in recognition of their services at the Battle of Cape St Vincent.

Jervis’ victory against the odds nullified the threat of the Spanish fleet participating in any invasion of Britain. With the defeated ships blockaded in Cadiz the admiral felt confident enough a year later to send an expeditionary force into the Mediterranean under Rear-Admiral Nelson. That officer’s subsequent victory over the Toulon fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 would re-establish the British navy’s control of the vital sea and it would not be lost again.

British fleet in order of battle, together with killed and wounded:

Culloden 74 Captain Thomas Troubridge 10+47
Blenheim 98 Captain Thomas Lenox Frederick 12+47
Prince George 98 Rear-Admiral William Parker 8+7
  Captain John Irwin  
Orion 74 Captain Sir James Saumarez 0+9
Colossus 74 Captain George Murray 0+5
Irresistible 74 Captain George Martin 5+13
Victory 100 Admiral Sir John Jervis 1+5
  Captain of the Fleet Robert Calder  
  Flag Captain Hon George Grey  
Egmont 74 Captain John Sutton 0+0
Goliath 74 Captain Sir Charles Henry Knowles 0+8
Barfleur 98 Vice-Admiral Hon. William Waldegrave 0+7
  Captain James Richard Dacres  
Britannia 100 Vice-Admiral Charles Thompson 0+1
  Captain Thomas Foley  
Namur 90 Captain James Hawkins Whitshed 2+5
Captain 74 Commodore Horatio Nelson 23+54
  Captain Ralph Willett Miller  
Diadem 64 Captain George Towry 0+2
Excellent 74 Captain Cuthbert Collingwood 10+12
     

Other Vessels:

Minerve 38 Captain George Cockburn
Southampton 32 Captain James Macnamara
Niger 32 Captain Edward Foote
Lively 32 Captain Vicount Garlies
Bonne Citoyenne 20 Commander Charles Lindsay
Raven 18 Commander William Prowse
Fox 10 Lieutenant John Gibson

Spanish Fleet in order of battle:

Infante Don Pelayo 74 Captain Cayetanoa Valdés
San Pablo 74 Captain Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros
Bahama 74 Admiral Domingo de Nava
  Captain José Aramburu
Neptuno 84 Captain José Lorenzo Goicoechea
Puŕisima Concepción 112 Admiral Francisco Javier Morales de Rios
  Captain José Escaño
Santo Domingo 58 (74 en-flute) Captain Manuel Maria  de Torres Valdivia
Conquistador 74 Captain José Butler
San Juan Nepomuceno 74 Captain Antonio Boneo
San Genaro 74 Captain Agustin Villavicencio
Mexicano 112 Commodore Francisco de Herrera (killed in action)
Soberano 74 Commodore Juan Vicente
  Captain Franciso Ley (killed in action
Oriente 74 Captain Juan Suárez
Terrible 74 Captain Francisco Uriarte
Santisima Trinidad 136 Admiral José de Cordova y Rosas
  Captain Rafael Orozco
San Nicolas de Bari 84 Captain Tomas Geraldino (killed in action)
San Isidro 74 Captain Teodoro de Argumoasa y Bourke
Salvador del Mundo 112 Commodore Antonio Yepes (killed in action)
San Idelfonso 74 Captain Rafael Maestre
Conde de Regla 112 Rear-Admiral Claude-François Renart, Marquis d’Amblimont  (killed)
  Captain Jerónimo Bravo
Firme 74 Captain Bruno Ayala
Principe de Asturias 112 Admiral Juan Joaquin Moreno de Mondragón y d’Hontlier
  Captain Antonio de Escaño
San Fermin 74 Captain José de Torres
San Antonio 74 Captain Salvador Medina
Glorioso 74 Captain Juan de Aguirre
Atlante 74 Captain Gonzálo Vallejo
San Francisco de Paula 74 Captain José Ussel de Guimbarda
San José 112 Admiral Franciso Javier Winthuysen (killed in action)
  Captain Pedro Pineda

9 x Frigates: Antiocha 34: Brigida 34: Ceres 34: Diana 34: Dorotea 34: Matilde 34: Mercedes 34: Paz 34: Perla 34: