Battle of Cape St. Vincent

Background. The Spanish declaration of war on Britain and Portugal in October 1796 made the British position in the Mediterranean untenable. After the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796 allied Spanish and French forces against Great Britain, the Royal Navy blockaded Spain in 1797, impairing communications with its empire. The combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 38 ships of the line heavily outnumbered the British Mediterranean Fleet of fifteen ships of the line, forcing the British to evacuate Corsica and then Elba.

Approach and Dispositions. Early in 1797, the Spanish fleet of 27 ships of the line lay at Cartagena. The British Mediterranean Fleet under Sir John Jervis sailed from the Tagus with ten ships of the line to intercept it, and was joined off Cape St. Vincent by five ships of the line from the Channel Fleet under Rear-Admiral William Parker. On 11 February the frigate HMS Minerve under Commodore Horatio Nelson passed through the Spanish fleet unseen in heavy fog; Nelson reached the British fleet on 13 February and reported the Spanish location to Jervis aboard Victory.

Aftermath. The defeated Spanish fleet returned to Cádiz, where it was blockaded until the 1802 Peace of Amiens, while about 3,000 prisoners were landed in Portugal. Jervis and his officers were rewarded for a victory that allowed British forces to return to the Mediterranean after their 1796 evacuation, while Córdoba was dismissed from the Spanish Navy and forbidden from appearing at court. Prize money of £140,000 was advertised in the London Gazette in 1798.