| 翻訳と辞書 |
| Action of 16 October 1799 ： ウィキペディア英語版 |
Action of 16 October 1799
The Action of 16 October 1799 was a minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars between a squadron of British Royal Navy frigates and two frigates of the Spanish Navy close to the Spanish naval port of Vigo in Galicia. The Spanish ships were a treasure convoy, carrying silver specie and luxury trade goods across the Atlantic Ocean from the colonies of New Spain to Spain. Sighted by British frigate HMS ''Naiad'' enforcing the blockade of Vigo late on the 15 October, the Spanish ships were in the last stages of their journey. Turning to flee from ''Naiad'', the Spanish soon found themselves surrounded as more British frigates closed in.
Although they separated their ships in an effort to split their opponents, the Spanish captains were unable to escape: ''Thetis'' was captured after a short engagement with HMS ''Ethalion'' on the morning of 16 October, while ''Santa Brigada'' almost reached safety, only being caught on the morning of 17 October in the approaches to the safe harbour at Muros. After a short engagement amid the rocks she was also captured by an overwhelming British force. Both captured ships were taken to Britain, where their combined cargoes were transported with great fanfare to the Bank of England. The eventual value of their cargo was assessed as at least £618,040, resulting in one of the largest hauls of prize money ever awarded.
==Background==
In 1796, following the secret terms of the Treaty of San Ildefonso, the Kingdom of Spain suddenly reversed its position in the French Revolutionary Wars turning from an enemy of the French Republic into an ally.〔Henderson, p. 104〕 The Spanish declaration of war on Great Britain forced the British Mediterranean Fleet to abandon the Mediterranean Sea entirely, retreating to ports at Gibraltar and Lisbon.〔Gardiner, p. 120〕 This force now concentrated against the Spanish Navy, most of which was stationed at the main fleet base of Cádiz in Southern Spain. A British blockade fleet won a significant victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797, dissuading the Spanish fleet from playing a significant role in the ongoing war.〔Gardiner, p. 90〕
Other Spanish ports were also blockaded with the intention of limiting Spanish trade and movement and intercepting treasure convoys from the colonies of New Spain and South America. Vast quantities of gold, silver and valuable trade goods crossed the Atlantic in regular armed frigate convoys.〔Henderson, p. 103〕 To intercept and seize these shipments the Royal Navy dispatched their own frigates to patrol the Spanish coast. To encourage their sailors, the Royal Navy distributed prize money to the value of the ships and material captured and the seizure of a Spanish treasure fleet could yield spectacular amounts of money: particularly large sums had been captured during previous wars in 1656, 1744 and 1762,〔 but during the first three years of conflict between Great Britain and Spain only one treasure convoy had been intercepted, near Cádiz at the Action of 26 April 1797, and on that occasion the treasure was smuggled ashore before the convoy was seized.〔Woodman, p. 99〕
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「Action of 16 October 1799」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|