tattooman
07-17-2010, 12:42 AM
The Action of 9 August 1780 was a naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War) in which the main Spanish fleet led by Admiral (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral) Luis de Córdova y Córdova (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_de_C%C3%B3rdova_y_C%C3%B3rdova), together with a squadron of French ships, captured a heavy British (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Britain) convoy of sixty-three vessels. The British convoy led by Sir John Moutray, captain of HMS Ramillies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ramillies_%281763%29) and three frigates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigate) sailed from Portsmouth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth) in late July, and were intercepted on 9 August by the Spanish fleet. During the action the Spanish Admiral Luis de Córdova managed to capture 55 of 63 vessels, making it one of the most complete naval captures ever made.[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_August_1780#cite_note-9) This loss was still bitterly remembered in Great Britain thirty years later at the height of the Napoleonic Wars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars).[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_August_1780#cite_note-10) The British financial losses were estimated at £ 1,500,000
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_August_1780
“ We received fourteen shot from one of the seventy-four's had two men killed and six wounded, our bowspirit shot and shivered up as far as the gammoning, when we struck to the Ferme, a 74 (Spanish). We were all, except the ladies and their husbands, the captains, first and second officers, and about six other gentlemen, ordered on board the Ferme: but on going on board, had it in our option to return; which we all did; and we met with the greatest civility, humanity, and generosity on board [...] The great kindness of the Spaniards makes our situation scarcely felt, as everything is done by them to alleviate our misfortune; and we have never yet felt that we were prisoners ”
—Captain Peter Collett of East Indiaman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Indiaman) Hillsborough, Cádiz, August 25, 1780.
continue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_August_1780
“ We received fourteen shot from one of the seventy-four's had two men killed and six wounded, our bowspirit shot and shivered up as far as the gammoning, when we struck to the Ferme, a 74 (Spanish). We were all, except the ladies and their husbands, the captains, first and second officers, and about six other gentlemen, ordered on board the Ferme: but on going on board, had it in our option to return; which we all did; and we met with the greatest civility, humanity, and generosity on board [...] The great kindness of the Spaniards makes our situation scarcely felt, as everything is done by them to alleviate our misfortune; and we have never yet felt that we were prisoners ”
—Captain Peter Collett of East Indiaman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Indiaman) Hillsborough, Cádiz, August 25, 1780.