Battle of Cádiz (1656)

The Battle of Cádiz (1656) was an operation in the Anglo–Spanish War (1654-1660) in which an English fleet destroyed and captured a Spanish treasure fleet off Cádiz.

After the ending of the Anglo-Dutch War, Oliver Cromwell turned his attention to England's traditional enemy, Spain. He was seeking a return to a policy of attacks on Spanish trade and shipping routes, whose success in the time Elizabeth I had acquired a legendary status.

In 1655, Robert Blake had blockaded the port of Cádiz in the hope of intercepting the treasure fleet but it had remained in the Americas.

In the following year the treasure fleet set out under the command of Marcos del Puerto and in September 1656 an English squadron under Captain Richard Stayner detected and intercepted it off the Spanish coast.

The attack occurred just in front of the coast of Cádiz. The English sank two Spanish ships, burnt two and captured two others, including the riches they carried. The remaining two ships reached the harbour. The financial blow sustained from this attack, the most serious suffered in the war by the Spanish, was estimated at £2,000,000. One of the many Spanish casualties was Francisco López de Zúñiga, 2nd Marquis of Baides, former Royal Governor of Chile, as well as his wife and one of his daughters.

Ships involved
English


 * Speaker (64) (Richard Stayner)
 * Tredagh (56) (John Harman)
 * Plymouth (54)
 * Bridgewater (52)
 * Diamond (60) (Gilbert Gott)
 * two more ships

Spanish


 * San Francisco y San Diego (Capitana) (26) (Marcus del Puerto) : escaped
 * San Francisco Javier (Almiranta) (30) (Francisco de Esquivel) : set itself on fire and exploded
 * Victoria (Galleon) (20) (Juan Rodriguez Calderón) : set itself on fire and sank
 * Jesus, Maria y Jose (Galleon) (28) (Juan de Hoyos) : captured
 * Profeta Elias (Merchantman) (26) (Juan de la Torre) : captured
 * Rosario (Merchantman) (24) (José de Paredes) : beached
 * Patache (José de Pimienta) beached
 * Captured Portuguese merchantman : escaped