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The Battle of Gibraltar (Spanish: ''Combate naval de Gibraltar'', Dutch: ''Zeeslag bij Gibraltar 1621'') took place on 10 August 1621 during the Eighty Years' War. A Dutch VOC fleet, escorted by Haultain's squadron was intercepted and defeated by nine ships of Spain's Atlantic fleet ''Armada del Mar Océano'', under Fadrique de Toledo, while crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.〔〔Irvine p.93〕 Upon expiration of the Twelve Years' Truce between Spain and the United Provinces, the Spanish wanted to give a decisive blow intercepting the Dutch trading ships that were in the Mediterranean. To this, the Spanish had arranged for a fleet concentration squadron in the Bay of Gibraltar, but admirals Martín de Vallecilla, Juan Fajardo and don Francisco de Acevedo, with their respective squadrons, failed to join Fadrique's fleet which left Cádiz on August 6, 1621;thus having the later only 9 ships to face the Dutch enemy. Four days later the Dutch fleet was sighted with more than 50 ships, of which 20 were armed Warships and the rest were merchant.〔 Stubborn after don Fadrique addressed to a Dutch ship and surrendered, then took another and made a third strand. Commander Hoyos and Basque admirals Carlos de Ibarra and Don Alonso de Mujica managed to capture two ships and torch another one.〔Gonzalez p.125〕 The Spanish flagship ''Santa Teresa'' ended dismasted and had to be taken in tow, but greater damage was done to the Dutch as more than five vessels were lost in the Barbary Coast and in Gibraltar.〔 The journey ended in Dutch defeat, passing the strait decreased in six or seven of his best ships, but having saved most of the merchant convoy.〔 In the Spanish court, much was made of the event, posting it for a win, and the king made grants, pensions rewarded with the most they had distinguished themselves in combat, and Fadrique was given the rank of ''General captain of the People's War Kingdom of Portugal.''〔Duro, Vol IV, p. 16〕 ==Background== A temporary truce between Spain and her rebellious Netherlanders allowed Basque-Spaniard admiral Miguel de Vidazabal, commander of the Gibraltar squadron, to cooperate with Dutch ships in anti-Corsair operations. These resulted in sixteen Corsair vessels being brought into Gibraltar. The truce prompted by the clamor of public opinion and even more so by his minister the Count-Duke of Olivares, collapsed in 1621, and a Dutch and Danish fleet of thirty-one sail arrived in the Straits to do what damage it could to Spanish shipping.〔Sir William Godfrey Fothergill Jackson p.81〕 With fine strategic vision, the Count Duke of Olivares realized that, at this point, the only way to combat the young and prosperous commercial republic in which the Netherlands had become a powerful nation was by an offensive on the seas, which will deprive the vital supply convoys of the VOC. Philip IV of Spain ordered his squadrons to attack those convoys in the Bay of Gibraltar and Flanders.〔San Juan p.93〕 Spanish maritime intelligence knew that a convoy of at least twenty Dutch ships from Venice, broker of the Middle East, was always hostile to the Spanish and that the rich convoy had the necessity to pass through the Gibraltar Strait. All the Dutch ships would go well armed and equipped, and with an appreciable escort, thus capture it or destroy it seemed so desirable and appropriate for the Spanish admiralty.〔 To achieve this, the Spanish ''Armada del Mar Océano'', then the elite of the Spanish naval forces, had only nine ships commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo y Osorio, this squadron had to met in Lisbon with four vessels under the command of Don Martin de Vallecilla, and nine of the fleet of Biscay, commanded by Don Francisco de Acevedo, bringing together about 22 ships that would ensure a complete victory.〔 But the Spanish plans seemed to unravel quickly, because in spite of the sharp and urgent orders and the feverish activity undertaken or all found Acevedo Santander needed for artillery guns and had their vessels sail to Lisbon for such purposes with only ten pieces the captain, six at the admiral and four others which made it impossible for the time involved in a serious battle. And similar problems did Vallecilla in Lisbon to prepare his division.〔 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 Gibraltar (1621)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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