Battle of Cape Spartel | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
Relief of Gibraltar by Earl Howe, 11 October 1782, by Richard Paton |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Great Britain |
Kingdom of Spain Kingdom of France |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Richard Howe | Luis de Córdova | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
35 ships of the line
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38 ships of the line
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
68 killed 208 wounded |
59 killed 301 wounded |
Indecisive;
35 ships of the line
38 ships of the line
The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe. These forces met on 20 October 1782 after Howe successfully resupplied Gibraltar, then under siege by Bourbon forces during the American Revolutionary War.
When Spain entered the American War of Independence in 1779, one of its principal objectives was the capture of Gibraltar from Great Britain. Shortly after war was declared, forces of Spain and France began the Great Siege of Gibraltar, blockading land access to the peninsula and enacting a somewhat porous naval blockade. Britain successfully resupplied Gibraltar in both 1780 and 1781, and recognized the need to do so again in 1782. The matter was seen as a critical by British political and military leaders, because Spain was seeking cession of the territory in peace talks.
The British Channel Fleet, which was under the command of Admiral Richard Howe, had a number of conflicting objectives to manage in the summer 1782. In addition to protecting the English Channel from Franco-Spanish incursions, the fleet also had to deal with the possibility of Dutch action on the North Sea against the transport of critical naval supplies from the Baltic, and it was expected to protect the convoy that would resupply Gibraltar. Even though intelligence received on 25 August indicated the Dutch fleet was in port at Texel, ten ships of the line were despatched to the North Sea while the convoy for Gibraltar took shape at Spithead. These ships returned to port on 4 September.