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The Action of 7 April 1800 was a minor naval engagement fought between a British squadron blockading the Spanish naval base of Cadiz and a convoy of 13 Spanish merchant vessels escorted by three frigates, bound for the Spanish colonies in the Americas. The blockade squadron consisted of the ships of the line HMS ''Leviathan'' and HMS ''Swiftsure'' and the frigate HMS ''Emerald'', commanded by Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth on ''Leviathan''. The Spanish convoy sailed from Cadiz on 3 April 1800 and encountered Duckworth's squadron two days later. The Spanish attempted to escape; ''Emerald'' and succeeded in capturing one ship early on 6 April. The British captured a brig the following morning and the British squadron divided in pursuit of the remainder. Calm winds delayed both pursuer and quarry and it was not until the morning of 7 April that ''Leviathan'' and ''Emerald'' came up on the bulk of the Spanish convoy, which was still under escort from the Spanish frigate squadron. ''Swiftsure'' had been detached south in pursuit of the rest of the convoy. Two Spanish frigates, ''Nuestra Señora del Carmen'' and ''Santa Florentina'' mistook Duckworth's force for part of their convoy, came too close and had to surrender after a short but fierce resistance. The third frigate ''Santa Sabina'' managed to escape ''Emerald'' ==Background== By April 1800, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain had been at war for three and a half years, following the Treaty of San Ildefonso that turned Spain from an enemy of the French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars to an ally.〔Gardiner, ''Fleet Battle and Blockade'', p. 120〕 The principal Spanish fleet was based in the large Southern Spanish port of Cadiz and had become an immediate target for the Royal Navy, which stationed a blockade fleet off the port to restrict Spanish movements and trade. This fleet, initially under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis, won a significant victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in February 1797.〔Gardiner,''Fleet Battle and Blockade'', p. 90〕 The port of Cadiz was the principal maritime conduit for Spanish trade and communication, particularly with regard to the extensive Spanish colonies in the Americas. Convoys carrying supplies and trade goods back and forth continued to use Cadiz and by 1800 in an effort to stop these the British Mediterranean Fleet was deploying smaller squadrons of frigates and ships of the line.〔Gardiner,''Nelson Against Napoleon'', p. 90〕 In March 1800, command of the blockade was entrusted to Rear-Admiral John Thomas Duckworth sailing in the 74-gun ship of the line HMS ''Leviathan'' with Captain James Carpenter. Accompanying ''Leviathan'' was the 74-gun HMS ''Swiftsure'' under Captain Benjamin Hallowell and the 36-gun frigate HMS ''Emerald'' under Captain Thomas Moutray Waller.〔Clowes, p. 530〕 This force, accompanied by the small fireship HMS ''Incendiary'' had captured two merchant ships sailing from Cadiz in late March, the Spanish ''Parifama Concepieona'' bound for Tenerife on 20 March and the French ''Le Puy du Dome'' for Cayenne on 23 March. These prizes were sent to the fleet bases at Lisbon and Gibraltar, the latter accompanied by ''Incendiary''.〔 During March the Spanish authorities in Cadiz prepared a convoy to sail to their American colonies consisting of 13 merchant vessels bound for Lima in the Viceroyalty of Peru, Buenos Aires and Montevideo in the Viceroyalty of the River Plate and Veracruz in the Viceroyalty of New Spain.〔 Accompanying this convoy were three 34-gun frigates, ''Nuestra Señora del Carmen'' under Captain Don Fraquin Porcel, ''Santa Florentina'' under Captain Don Manuel Norates and ''Santa Sabina''.〔 All three frigates had undergone extensive preparations for the voyage, with new copper sheathing on their hulls and full crews and stores for the long journey. They were also each carrying 500 quintals of quicksilver for use in the Peruvian silver mining industry.〔 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 7 April 1800」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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