|
The Action of Faial or the Battle of Faial Island was a naval engagement that took place on 22 - 23 of June 1594 during the Anglo-Spanish War in which the large and rich 2,000 ton Portuguese carrack ''Cinco Chagas'' was destroyed by an English fleet after a long and bitter battle off Faial Island in the Azores. The carrack, which was reputedly one of the richest to set sail from the Indies, was lost in an explosion which denied the English as well as the Portuguese and Spanish, the riches.〔〔Horner pg. 229〕 ==Background== By virtue of the Iberian Union, the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 was in abeyance, and as the Anglo–Spanish War was still ongoing, Portuguese shipping was a fair target for the English navy and privateers.〔 In the latter end of 1593 and hoping to capitalize on the success of the capture of the ''Madre de Deus''; the Earl of Cumberland, at his own expense prepared three ships of 250 to 300 tons, with at total of 420 sailors and soldiers with two artillery decks each.〔〔Andrews pg. 76〕 The ''Royal Exchange'' owned by London Merchants, William Holliday, Thomas Cordell and William Garraway where George Cave was captain.〔 The ''Mayflower'' - Vice Admiral under the conduct of William Anthony, the ''Sampson'', under Nicholas Downton and a support pinnace ''Violet''.〔Williamson 126–37〕〔Oppenheim 310–11〕 On 6 April 1594 they set sail from Plymouth, heading towards the coast of Spain. As they headed towards the Azores they roamed the coast of Portugal and Spain capturing a number of ships. Off Viana do Castelo, Portugal, a 28 tonne barque was captured as it headed towards Portuguese Angola. Near the islands of Berlengas another three Portuguese and Spanish caravels, were taken one of which had twelve butts of Spanish wine and another with a small chest of silver.〔 They were then sent back to England under prize crews guarded by the ''Violet'' while the rest of the fleet headed towards the Azores. They were also hoping to avoid Alonso de Bazán's Spanish fleet which was on the lookout for Cumberland after his failure attempting to intercept him two years earlier.〔 On the 22 of June 1594, as they approached Faial island, ''Mayflower'' soon saw a great sail approach them and realized this was a huge Portuguese carrack.〔 The carrack was the ''Cinco Chagas'' (Five wounds) and was a thirty two gun 2000 ton carrack which had departed from Goa heading for Portugal in 1593, under the command of Francisco de Mello, one of the "greatest naus that ever were in the Carreira, loaded with great wealthness and precious stones and all the best of India".〔 Constructed in Goa by the Viceroy Dom Constantino de Braganza in 1559-60, she had made ten voyages being the flagship of five viceroys.〔 The rest of the fleet consisted of the carracks ''Santo Alberto'', and ''Nossa Senhora da Nazareth''. Both the ''Santo Alberto'' and ''Nazareth'' sprung fatal leaks and were beached in on Mozambique's coast. The ''Cinco Chagas'' took all the cargo in diamonds and other precious gems from the two lost carracks as well the 400 passengers and crew members, of which 230 were slaves.〔Amaral pg. 45–57〕 There were also two VIPs Nuno Velho Pereira the former governor of Portuguese Mozambique and Dom Braz Correia the captain of the fleet heading from the Indies.〔 Having stopped by Luanda, in Portuguese Angola, for supplies, where they took more slaves which were in fact, more mouths to feed. By the time it reached the Azores disease had taken nearly half the complement many of which were women and children and most of the food provisions were thrown overboard.〔 As they passed the channel heading towards Faial, the lookouts on ''Chagas'' spotted the English ship and soon prepared for battle.〔 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 Faial」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|