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The Battle of Cape St. Vincent took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American War of Independence. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle because it was unusual for naval battles in the Age of Sail to take place at night. It was also the first major naval victory for the British over their European enemies in the war and proved the value of copper-sheathing the hulls of warships. Admiral Rodney was escorting a fleet of supply ships to relieve the Spanish siege of Gibraltar with a fleet of about twenty ships of the line when he encountered Lángara's squadron south of Cape St. Vincent. When Lángara saw the size of the British fleet, he attempted to make for the safety of Cádiz, but the copper-sheathed British ships chased his fleet down. In a running battle that lasted from mid-afternoon until after midnight, the British captured four Spanish ships, including Lángara's flagship. Two other ships were also captured, but their final disposition is unclear; some Spanish sources indicate they were retaken by their Spanish crews, while Rodney's report indicates the ships were grounded and destroyed. After the battle Rodney successfully resupplied Gibraltar and Minorca before continuing on to the West Indies station. Lángara was released on parole, and was promoted to lieutenant general by King Carlos III. ==Background== (詳細はSpain's principal goals upon its entry into the American War of Independence in 1779 was the recovery of Gibraltar, which had been lost to England in 1704.〔Chartrand, pp. 12, 30〕 The Spanish planned to retake Gibraltar by blockading and starving out its garrison, which included troops from Britain and the Electorate of Hanover.〔Chartrand, pp. 23, 30–31, 37〕 The siege formally began in June 1779, with the Spanish establishing a land blockade around the Rock of Gibraltar.〔Chartrand, p. 30〕 The matching naval blockade was comparatively weak, however, and the British discovered that small fast ships could evade the blockaders, while slower and larger supply ships generally could not. By late 1779, however, supplies in Gibraltar had become seriously depleted, and its commander, General George Eliott, appealed to London for relief.〔Chartrand, p. 37〕 A supply convoy was organized, and in late December 1779 a large fleet sailed from England under the command of Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney. Although Rodney's ultimate orders were to command the West Indies fleet, he had secret instructions to first resupply Gibraltar and Minorca. On 4 January 1780 the fleet divided, with ships headed for the West Indies sailing westward. This left Rodney in command of 19 ships of the line, which were to accompany the supply ships to Gibraltar.〔Syrett, pp. 234, 237〕 On 8 January 1780 ships from Rodney's fleet spotted a group of sails. Giving chase with their faster copper-clad ships, the British determined these to be a Spanish supply convoy that was protected by a single ship of the line and several frigates. The entire convoy was captured, with the lone ship of the line, the ''Guipuzcoana'', striking her colours after a perfunctory exchange of fire. The ''Guipuzcoana'' was staffed with a small prize crew and renamed , in honour of Prince William, the third son of the King, who was serving as midshipman in the fleet. Rodney then detached and the frigate to escort most of the captured ships back to England; the ''Prince William'' was added to his fleet, as were some of the supply ships that carried items likely to be of use to the Gibraltar garrison.〔Syrett, pp. 238, 306〕 On 12 January , which had lost part of her topmast on 3 January, suffered additional damage and raised a distress flag. Assisted by , she limped into Lisbon on 16 January.〔Syrett, p. 311〕 The Spanish had learnt of the British relief effort. From the blockading squadron a fleet comprising 11 ships of the line under Admiral Juan de Lángara was dispatched to intercept Rodney's convoy, and the Atlantic fleet of Admiral Luis de Córdova at Cadiz was also alerted to try to catch him. Córdova learnt of the strength of Rodney's fleet, and returned to Cadiz rather than giving chase. On 16 January the fleets of Lángara and Rodney spotted each other around 1:00 pm south of Cape St. Vincent, the southwestern point of Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula.〔Chartrand, p. 38〕 The weather was hazy, with heavy swells and occasional squalls.〔 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「Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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