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The naval Battle of Monte Santiago was a naval battle on 7–8 April 1827, between the Argentine Navy and Brazilian Imperial Navy, during the Cisplatine War. It was a decisive Brazilian victory, with the allied forces losing its best ships. The battle is highlighted by Argentine historians as one of the most courageous and ferocious naval encounters in the country's history.〔()〕 On that day, Sgt. Mayor Francis Drummond (engaged to Admiral Brown's daughter Elisa) died on deck, firing his marooned ship's cannons instead of retreating. Despite the balanced result of the battle, and the fact that it did not change the status quo in the River Plate, it still represented a severe setback for the smaller Argentine Navy. From that moment on, only corsary raids against commerce ships could be undertaken by the Argentine Navy; and the Naval blockade posed grave problems to the export oriented Argentine economy. == The battle == While the Brazilian Navy had high seas vessels, with more firepower but lesser speed, the Argentine Navy relied on fast maneuvering ships. Some Argentine commanders believed that the lack of maneuvering of the Imperial vessels in shallow waters and the speed of their own ships could decide some engagements in their favor. The Argentine commander was confident that, by using the surprise element, his more maneuverable ships could inflict damage and that he could escape before the Brazilian force could counterattack. Unfortunately for him, he was unaware of the enemy's initial three-to-one advantage in terms of ships on the first day of battle (which escalated into a four-to-one advantage by the second day). Brown also underestimated the Brazilian fleet's ability to cut off any route of escaping in time. As a result, the battle was a two-day pouring of shells onto his men. On the second day, the Brazilian vessel ''Paula'' opened fire at the brigantine ''Independencia''. The ''Independencia'' (which had lesser firepower) lost its masts, and to prevent the ship from sinking, 12 cannons were thrown overboard. As a consequence Francis Drummond, its captain, was wounded by a sliver that cut his ear. At 4 pm Drummond had no powder left, and had already fired his supply of three thousand rounds. Drummond managed to use anchor chains as ammunition. He ordered "abandon ship", but the crew fiercely refused his command. Then Drummond, in order to resupply ammunition, sailed in a lifeboat to the flagship ''Republica''. At that moment he was hit by a 24 lb cannonball that destroyed his pelvis and right leg and died. 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 Monte Santiago」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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