Battle of Berlengas Islands

The Battle of Berlengas Islands took place off the Portuguese coast on 15 July 1591, during the war between Elizabeth I of England and Philip II of Spain. It was fought between an English privateer squadron under George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, who had set out his fortunes by large-scale privateering, and a squadron of 5 Spanish galleys commanded by Francisco Coloma, who succeeded in taking one English ship and rescuing two prizes.

Having undertook naval expeditions to the coasts of Spain in 1587, 1588 and 1589, in the spring of 1591, the Earl of Cumberland sailed to Cape St. Vincent in a new privateering campaign with one royal ship, the 600-ton galleon Garland, and four of his own, the 260-ton Sampson, the Golden Noble, Allegarta, and the small pinnace Discovery. Sir William Monson of Stuart, later Admiral of the Royal Navy, was his second in command. Off the Spanish coast they took a pair of Dutch ships sailing from Lisbon with spices. Though the Dutch Republic was allied with England against the Spanish Crown, the ships took by the English squadron had on board goods of Portuguese merchants.

So greatly we were abused by the nation of Holland, who, though they were the first that engaged us in the war with Spain, yet still mantained their own trade into those ports, and supplied the Spaniards with ammunition, victuals, shipping and intelligences against us.

The English squadron took further prizes: one ship loaded with wine and two with sugar, which were sent back to England. One of these ships had a leak in the hull and was forced to cast off. Its boarding crew was saved on the shore. The two other vessels met contraty winds and, lacking of provisions, were obliged to enter the port of A Coruña, where they were immediately taken. The English squadron, meanwhile, sailed to the Berlengas islands, a group of small islands off the Portuguese coast near the city of Peniche. There, the Earl of Cumberland ordered Monson to escort the Dutch prizes to England with Captain Peter Baily's Golden Noble. During the night, however, Cumberland's Garland and the other warships fell separated from Monson and the prizes.

The Golden Noble was discovered by a squadron five Spanish galleys under Francisco Coloma, General of the Armada de Guarda Costa (Coast-guard armada). Taking advantage of the calm, the Spanish galleys rowed up, engaged and took the English ships after a bloody fight. Captain Peter Baily and the principal men were killed in the fight. Coloma captured the 14-gun, 150-man man-of-war Golden Noble and recovered the Dutch prizes, a caravel and a zabre, at the slight cost of two men killed. Cumberland heard the artillery of Monson's ship in distance, but he was unable to come in relief because of contrary winds.

After the action, Cumberland wrote to Archduke Albert, Spanish Viceroy of Portugal, requesting him that the English should be humanely treated or he would retaliate the injuries which they might suffer with "double severity" upon the Spaniards. Monson, who was among the prisoners, was carried to Portugal and imprisoned two years at Cascais and Lisbon, together with 6 other officers, being the sailors and soldiers provided of new clothing and freed.