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Action of 13 October 1796

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Action of 13 October 1796
Part of theFrench Revolutionary Wars

Print byThomas WhitcombedepictingHMSTerpsichorecapturing theMahonesaon 13 October 1796
Date13 October 1796
Location
offCape Gata,Mediterranean Sea
Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain Spain
Commanders and leaders
Richard Bowen Tomás de Ayalde
Strength
1 frigate 1 frigate
Casualties and losses
4 wounded 30 killed
30 wounded
1 frigate captured
250 captured

Theaction of 13 October 1796was a minor naval engagement of theFrench Revolutionary Wars,fought off theMediterraneancoast ofSpainnearCartagenabetween the BritishRoyal Navy32-gunfrigateHMSTerpsichoreunder CaptainRichard Bowenand theSpanish Navy34-gun frigateMahonesaunder Captain Tomás de Ayalde. The action was the first battle of theAnglo-Spanish War,coming just eight days after the Spanish declaration of war. In a battle lasting an hour and forty minutes,Mahonesawas captured.

Spain had been an ally of Britain in the first years of theWar of the First Coalitionagainst the newly formedFrench Republic.Relations between the allies had often been strained, and following a series of defeats in theWar of the Pyreneesthe Spanish signed a peace treaty in August 1795. A year later theTreaty of San Ildefonsobrought Spain back into the war, now as an ally of France. The war in the Mediterranean had reached a stalemate after two inconclusive battles in the spring of 1795, with a Britishblockadeof the French naval base atToulonmaintained fromSan FiorenzoandLeghornunder Vice-AdmiralSir John Jervis.The French dominance in theItalian campaignof 1796 made the British position tenuous, and with Spain's entry into the war Jervis was forced to disperse his limited forces further still, with forces watching Spanish shipping atCádiz.

Off Cartagena Bowen commanded the small frigateTerpsichore,which had been shadowing a large Spanish fleet which had left Cádiz a few days earlier. As he returned toGibraltarBowen encounteredMahonesa,and the Spanish captain Ayalde offered battle. Bowen accepted and the ships fought an extended engagement at close quarters. The Spanish ship took much more serious damage and casualties than the British, and gradually the crew began to slip away from their guns. Ayalde made an attempt to escape, but his ship was too crippled and after a chase of 20 minutes he surrendered. Bowen brought theprizetoLisbon,where the damage was revealed to be too severe to repair. Bowen served in a number of engagements off Cádiz in the following months, until he was killed in July 1797 at theBattle of Santa Cruz.

Background[edit]

In early 1793Great BritainandSpain,historic antagonists in the Mediterranean, found themselves allies against the newly-formedFrench Republicin theWar of the First Coalition.[1]The alliance was uneasy, the Spanish refusing to allow British officers to command Spanish forces,[1]and suspicious of British motives in the aftermath of theNootka Crisisof 1790.[2]During theSiege of Toulon,Spanish AdmiralJuan de Lángarathreatened to open fire onHMSVictory,the flagship of British Vice-AdmiralLord Hoodduring a dispute over strategy,[3]and at the culmination of the siege Spanish forces were accused of deliberately sabotaging a British attempt to destroy the French Mediterranean Fleet at anchor in harbour.[4]

As the war progressed the Spanish suffered a series of defeats on land in theWar of the Pyrenees,and in the summer of 1795 Spain was forced to sign a peace treaty with the French, withdrawing their forces from the Mediterranean campaign.[5]Britain and France fought inconclusive sea battles atGenoaand theHyères Islandsthat year, the campaign settling into a stalemate,[6]with the Frenchblockadedin Toulon but sending successful raiding squadrons against British trade.[7]One such squadron destroyed a large British convoy at theBattle of the Levant ConvoyoffCape St. Vincentin October 1795 and took shelter in the main Spanish naval base ofCádiz.[8]During 1796 theItalian campaignsofNapoleon Bonapartesystematically eliminated Britain's Italian allies,[9]while diplomatic negotiations brought Spain into an alliance with France, signing theTreaty of San Ildefonsoin August. On 5 October Spain declared war on Britain and a large Spanish fleet sailed from Cádiz under Lángara to unite with the French at Toulon.[10]

British forces in the Mediterranean were commanded by Vice-AdmiralSir John Jervis,who had stationed forces off Cádiz to watch for Spanish movement in the advent of war.[10]The squadron at Cádiz, commanded by Rear-AdmiralRobert Mann,was chased by Lángara's fleet, abandoning two storeships in its precipitate withdrawal.[11]Initially anchoring atGibraltar,Mann then deserted his post and returned to Britain against orders.[12]One of the independent commands in the region was a small force led by the small 32-gunfrigateHMSTerpsichoreunder CaptainRichard Bowen,recently transferred from theNorth Seacommand at Jervis' request. Bowen recognised the danger in Mann's desertion, and set sail for theLigurian Seato warn Jervis of Lángara's approach.[13]

Action[edit]

On 11 October, Lángara reached the Spanish Mediterraneanport of Cartagena,uniting with the squadron there and sailing in search of Jervis.[14]The previous day Bowen, having passed Lángara's slower fleet, encounteredHMSPallasand passed the warning along, turning back to his station off Gibraltar.[13]As Lángara passed by, a Spanish frigate stationed in Cartagena, the 34-gunMahonesaunder CaptainTomás de Ayalde,sailed independently on a patrol and in the early morning of 13 October sighted a strange sail to the northeast.[15]Ayalde brought his frigate towards the stranger to investigate and found that he faced Bowen's frigate, manoeuvering to positionMahonesain an advantageous station towindward.[16]

Bowen's ship was undermanned, having landed 30 men for medical treatment at Gibraltar and with another 30 on board unfit for action,[17]and he was concerned that the Spanish fleet he was shadowing might appear at any moment; a Spanishtenderwas seen sailing for Cartagena with news of Bowen's arrival.[16]Bowen however determined to fight, and stood towards Ayalde's ship. At 09:30, Bowen pulled close alongside the Spanish frigate and fired a single shot to see how the Spanish vessel would react.[17]Ayalde responded with a fullbroadside,and the frigates traded heavy fire for the next hour and twenty minutes as theywore aroundone another.[17]Terpsichore's masts were badly damaged and the rigging, sails, boats and anchors badly torn up by Spanish fire, but casualties among the crew were relatively light.[18]Mahonesahowever was badly battered, suffering heavy casualties; theboomswere shattered and the guns in the centre of the ship disabled.[16]

As the action continued, Ayalde found that his men were slipping away from their guns and that fewer and fewer could be persuaded to return. Recognising that defeat was now inevitable, he ordered sails set and attempted to retreat to Cartagena.[16]OnTerpsichore,Bowen had his men effect rapid repairs and within 20 minutes the British frigate was under sail and soon overhauled the shattered Spanish ship. AsTerpischorepulled alongsideMahonesa,gun batteries ready to fire, Ayaldestruck his coloursand surrendered.[17]

Combatant summary[edit]

In this table, "Guns" refers to allcannoncarried by the ship, including the maindeck guns which were taken into consideration when calculating itsrate,as well as anycarronadescarried aboard.[19]Broadside weight records the combined weight of shot which could be fired in a single simultaneous discharge of an entirebroadside.

Ship Commander Navy Guns Tons Broadside
weight 		Complement Casualties
Killed Wounded Total
HMSTerpsichore CaptainRichard Bowen 32 682bm 276 pounds (125 kg) 182 0 4 4
Mahonesa CaptainTomás de Ayalde 34 921bm 180 pounds (82 kg) 275 30 30 60
Source: Clowes, p. 504

Aftermath[edit]

Bowen effected repairs on boardTerpsichoreand hisprizeand turned to the westward. His losses were minimal, with only four men wounded in the engagement. Casualties on boardMahonesawere much heavier; Bowen estimated 30 killed and 30 wounded,[17]Bowen successfully brought both frigates toLisbon,where Jervis was establishing a new fleet anchorage. ThereMahonesawas bought into the Royal Navy under the same name.[20][Note 1]Bowen was commended for his victory, and awarded apiece of platevalued at 100guineas.[23]Naval historianWilliam Jamesconsidered thatMahonesaandTerpsichore,both12-pounderfrigates, were "as fair a match as an English officer would wish to fight."[16]Bowen himself paid tribute to Ayalde's bravery in the action, considering that the Spanish captain had fought on long past the point where defeat was inevitable.[17]

With Mann's desertion and the Spanish declaration of war, Jervis found his fleet isolated and outnumbered. Acting on orders from theAdmiralty,he withdrew his forces from the Mediterranean entirely, retreating to Gibraltar and then Lisbon. There he received reinforcements from Britain and,[5]in February 1797, launched a successful attack on the Spanish fleet at theBattle of Cape St Vincent,[24]inflicting such a serious defeat that the Spanish fleet would not emerge again from Cádiz until theCroisière de Bruixcampaign in 1799.[25]Bowen was attached to theCádiz blockade,capturing several merchant vessels in November 1796,[26]defeating the French frigateVestaleoff Cádiz at theaction of 13 December 1796,[27]and attacking the damaged Spanish 130-gunSantísima Trinidadin the aftermath of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.[28]In July 1797Terpsichorewas with the squadron under Rear-AdmiralSir Horatio Nelsonwhich attacked the port ofSanta CruzonTenerife.The operation was a failure, Nelson's force driven off with heavy casualties;[29]Nelson lost an arm and Bowen was struck and killed bygrape shotwhile storming the town.[30]More than five decades after the battle theAdmiraltyrecognised the action with a clasp attached to theNaval General Service Medal,awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.[31]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^HistorianWilliam Jamesclaimed thatMahonesawas deemed too badly shattered for further active service and never served as a warship,[20]but theLondon Gazettereported how, on 24 May 1797,MahonesaandHMSRomuluscaptured a 20-gun Spanish Corvette in aruse de guerre.Approaching underfalse colours,Nuestra Senora del Rosariowas taken without a shot being fired.[21]In addition, Winfield, in the second volume of hisBritish Warships in the Age of Sailseries, claims thatMahonesaserved until August 1798.[22]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^abIreland, p.144
  2. ^Mostert, p.97
  3. ^Mostert, p. 113
  4. ^Clowes, p.212
  5. ^abGardiner, p.89
  6. ^Gardiner, p.116
  7. ^James, p.273
  8. ^Clowes, p.277
  9. ^Mostert, p.182
  10. ^abMostert, p.184
  11. ^Clowes, p.286
  12. ^Mostert, p.185
  13. ^abCampbell, p.79
  14. ^James, p.311
  15. ^James, p.357
  16. ^abcdeJames, p.358
  17. ^abcdef"No. 13954".The London Gazette.22 November 1796. p. 1133.
  18. ^Clowes, p.504
  19. ^James, Vol. 1, p. 32
  20. ^abJames, p.359
  21. ^"No. 14023".The London Gazette.27 June 1797. p. 615.
  22. ^Winfield, Rif (2007).British Warships in the Age of Sail1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates.Seaforth Publishing. p. 211.ISBN978-1-84415-700-6.
  23. ^Campbell, p.82
  24. ^Mostert, p.198
  25. ^Clowes, p. 320
  26. ^Campbell, p.83
  27. ^James, p.361
  28. ^Campbell, p.87
  29. ^Mostert, p.220
  30. ^Campbell, p.89
  31. ^"No. 20939".The London Gazette.26 January 1849. pp. 236–245.

References[edit]

  • Campbell, John (1818).Naval History of Great Britain: Including the History and Lives of the British Admirals.Vol. 7. London: Baldwyn and Co.
  • Clowes, William Laird(1997) [1900].The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume III.London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN1-86176-012-4.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1996].Fleet Battle and Blockade.London: Caxton Editions.ISBN1-84067-363-X.
  • Ireland, Bernard(2005).The Fall of Toulon: The Last Opportunity the Defeat the French Revolution.Cassell.ISBN0-3043-6726-5.
  • James, William(2002) [1827].The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 1, 1793–1796.London: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN0-85177-905-0.
  • Mostert, Noel (2007).The Line upon a Wind: The Greatest War Fought at Sea Under Sail 1793 – 1815.Vintage Books.ISBN9-78071-260-9272.
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