4860 x 3820 px | 41,1 x 32,3 cm | 16,2 x 12,7 inches | 300dpi
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Battle of Cape St Vincent (14 February 1797) a British fleet under John Jervis defeated a larger Spanish fleet under José de Córdoba near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. “ The roar was like heavy thunder, and the ship reeled and shook as if she was inclined to fall in pieces. I felt a chocking sensation from the smell and smoke of gunpowder... ” —Midshipman George Parsons, HMS Barfleur The Spanish declaration of war on Britain and Portugal in October 1796 made the British position in the Mediterranean untenable. The combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 38 ships of the line heavily outnumbered the British Mediterranean Fleet of 15 ships of the line, forcing the British to evacuate their positions in first Corsica and then Elba. Early in 1797, the Spanish fleet of 27 ships of the line, which were supposed to join the French fleet at Brest lay at Cartagena, on the Mediterranean Sea, with the intention of sailing to Cádiz as an escort of a 57 merchant convoy, carrying mainly mercury — necessary for gold and silver production — which would eventually enter that Spanish harbour along with warships Neptuno, Terrible and Bahama, prior to running into the British force. Don José de Cordóba and the Spanish fleet left Cartagena on February 1 and might have reached Cádiz safely but for a fierce Levanter, the easterly wind, blowing between Gibraltar and Cádiz, which pushed the Spanish fleet further out into the Atlantic than intended. As the winds died down, the fleet began working its way back to Cádiz. In the meantime, the British Mediterranean Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jervis, had sailed from the Tagus with 10 ships of the line to try to intercept the Spanish fleet. On February 6, Jervis was joined off Cape St. Vincent by a reinforcement of five ships of the line from the Channel Fleet under Rear-Admiral William Parker. On 11 February, the British frigate Minerve, under the command of Commodore Horatio Nelson, passed through the Spanish fleet unseen thanks.
