Battle of Havana (1748)

The Battle of Havana was an engagement between the British Caribbean squadron and a Spanish squadron based near Havana. The action unfolded with each side at once anxious to cover its own trade and to intercept that of the other. After a number of aborted attacks, the British succeeded in driving the Spanish back to their harbour after capturing the Conquistador and running the vice-admiral's ship Africa on shore where she was blown up by her own crew after being totally dismasted and made helpless. Both commanders, Charles Knowles and Don Andres Reggio, were reprimanded by their respective commands for their conduct during the engagement, in Knowles' case for not bringing his full fleet to bear and achieving a total rout. Although the advantage clearly had been with Knowles, he failed to use this to deliver a decisive blow. It was the last major action in the War of Jenkin's Ear (1739–48), which had merged with the larger War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48).

Britain
HMS Cornwall (1692) 80 (flag, Charles Knowles) HMS Lenox (1678) 70 (Charles Holmes) HMS Tilbury (1745) 60 (Charles Pawlet) HMS Strafford (1735) 60 (David Brodie) HMS Warwick (1733) 60 (Thomas Innes) HMS Canterbury (1693) 60 (Edward Clarke) HMS Oxford (1674) 50 (Edmund Toll)

Spain
Africa 70/74 (flag 1, Andrés Reggio y Brachiforte) Invencible 70/74 (flag 2, Benito Spínola) Conquistador 60/64 (Tomás de San Justo) Dragón 60/64 (Manuel de Paz) Nueva España 60/64 (Fernando Varela) Real Familia 60/64 (Marcos Forastal) Galga 30/36 (Pedro de Garaycoechea)