Action of 18 March 1748

The Action of 18 March 1748 was a naval engagement during the War of Jenkins' Ear in which a fleet of six Royal Naval vessels captured a number of merchantman in a successful engagement against a Spanish convoy escorted by nine ships of the line and frigates.

Battle
Whilst off Cape St Vincent a small British fleet under Captain Cotes was watching his station when he caught eye of a Spanish convoy. He caught up with the tail end of the convoy and an action ensued. Three register ships, from Cadiz to Vera Cruz, and two others for Carthagena, are intercepted and captured out of a Spanish fleet of 17 merchantmen, under a convoy of nine ships of the line. The escorting Spanish ships of the line were Soberbio (74), Leon (74), Oriente (70), Colorado (70), Brillante (64), Pastora (64), Rosario (60), Xavier (54) and Galga (54). The Royal naval vessels consisted from 74 to 54 guns, by HMS Edinburgh, 70 guns, under the command of Captain Thomas Cotes, with the Eagle, Windsor, and Princess Louisa, 60 guns each, and Inverness, 24 guns and the frigate Gax. The rest of the convoy managed to escape under darkness with their escorting ships.