Velez Malaga 1704


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Honour - Velez Malaga 1704 Date - 13 August Type - Fleet or Squadron Actions Conflict - War of the Spanish Succession; 1702-13

Description	The previous month, the British had taken Gibraltar and this was a battle between an Anglo-Dutch Fleet of 53 ships-of-the-line and a Franco-Spanish fleet of 50 ships-of-the-line, plus about 24 galleys. (The galleys did not take a great part in the action.) The French objective was to win a victory at sea and go on to recapture Gibraltar. The battle took place about 25 miles south-east of Marbella and developed as a day long artillery duel. No ships were taken, burnt or sunk, except for a French frigate and two galleys. However casualties were heavy:- British; 695 killed and 1,663 wounded, Dutch; about 400 casualties, Franco-Spanish; about 1,500 killed and 3000 wounded. The following day the French made no attempt to renew the battle and the British returned to Gibraltar to complete extensive repairs. Although the battle was drawn, Anglo-Dutch supremacy was not seriously challenged for the rest of the war, which lasted another nine years. The retention of Gibraltar helped Britain dominate the western Mediterranean basin for the next 150 years.

HM Ships
Assurance	Barfleur	Bedford	Berwick	Boyne
Burford	Cambridge	Centurion	Charles Galley	Dorsetshire
Eagle	Essex	Firebrand	Firme/Ferme	Garland
Grafton	Griffin	Hare	Hunter	Jeffries
Kent	Kingston	Larke	Lenox	Lightning
Monck/Monk	Monmouth	Montagu	Namur	Nassau
Newark	Newport	Norfolk	Nottingham	Orford
Panther	Phoenix	Prince George	Princes Anne	Ranelagh
Roebuck	Royal Katherine	Royal Oak	St. George	Shrewsbury
Somerset	Suffolk	Swallow	Swiftsure	Tartar
Terror	Tilbury	Torbay	Triton	Vulcan
Vulture	Warspite	William and Mary	Yarmouth



This page last edited - 05 April, 2013. Copyright © Ian M King, except where otherwise indicated.