As the expectations which the public had conceived from this prodigious armament were very great, so, consequently, they were exceedingly disappointed at being informed that the attempt upon Cadiz had proved unsuccessful. However, Providence afterwards put it in the power of Sir George Rooke, before he returned to England, to render his country a more signal and important service than it could possibly have received from a successful attack upon Cadiz. Captain Hardy, of the Pembroke, being sent to water in Lagos Bay, before he returned received intelligence there that the Spanish galleons, under the convoy of a French squadron, had put into Vigo on the 16th of September. Captain Hardy hastened with the utmost expedition in his power to convey the news to the fleet, which he did not meet with until the 3rd of October, and even then the wind blew so hard that he found it impossible to speak with the Admiral until the 6th, when he informed him of the intelligence he had received. On this information Sir George called a council of war immediately, in which it was resolved to sail as expeditiously as possible to the port of Vigo, to attack the enemy. In order to effect this purpose, some small vessels were dispatched to reconnoitre them and discover their force, which was effectually performed by a boat belonging to the Kent man-of-war; and from this intelligence the Captain understood that Monsieur Chasteau Renault’s squadron of French men-of-war and the Spanish galleons were all in that harbour. Sir George was unable to arrive off Vigo before the 11th of October. The passage into the harbour was not more than three-quarters of a mile over, and was defended by a battery of eight brass and twelve iron guns on the north side and on the south side was a platform of twenty brass guns, and twenty of iron; and also a stone fort, with a breast work, and French ships before it mounting ten guns, and containing in it 500 men. There was also extended from one side of the harbour to the other, a strong boom, formed of ships’ yards and top-masts, fastened together with three-inch rope, very thick, and underneath were hawsers and cables. The top chain at each end was moored to a seventy-gun ship. Within the boom were moored five ships of between sixty and seventy guns each, with their broad sides fronting the entrance of the passage, so as to fire with the greatest execution upon any ships that should attempt to come near either the boom, forts, or platform. The Admirals removed their flags from the great ships into third rates, the first and second rates drawing too much water to enter the harbour. Sir George Rooke went from the Royal Sovereign into the Somerset; Admiral Hopson out of the Prince George into the Torbay; Admiral Fairbourne out of the St. George into the Essex; and Admiral Graydon out of the Triumph into the Northumberland. A detachment of fifteen English, and ten Dutch