Naval battles of the world : $b Great and decisive contests on the sea ... with an account of the Japan-China war and the recent battle of the Yalu; the growth, power, and management of our new Navy.Shippen, Edward
History
Naval battles of the world : $b Great and decisive contests on the sea ... with an account of the Japan-China war and the recent battle of the Yalu; the growth, power, and management of our new Navy.
Shippen, Edward
Naval battles; Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895; United States. Navy
Commodore Nelson, who had so often proved in his own person that the
danger of a bold enterprise required only to be met to be overcome, was
not mentioned in Sir John Jervis’ despatches, but received the insignia
of the Bath, and the freedom of the City of London.
Thanks of Parliament were voted to the fleet, and gold medals were
given to all the flag-officers and captains, as on similar occasions.
The four Spanish prizes were commissioned, and retained in service on
the Lisbon station.
The gale which had assailed the British fleet in Lagos Bay caught the
remainder of Admiral Cordova’s fleet at sea. It dispersed his ships,
and prevented them from reaching Cadiz until March. Among them was the
huge Santissima Trinidada, which, being so much injured by shot, was
least able to stand bad weather.
On the morning of the 28th of February, as she was striving to regain
the coast, the English frigate Terpsichore appeared in sight, to the
westward. Her captain knew of the battle, and divined, at once, that
the four-decker must be the Sta. Trinidada. He instantly cleared for
action, and bore down upon her, and began engaging, so manœuvring that
he kept clear of her broadside. The great ship had, therefore, only
her chasers with which to chastise the temerity of her pigmy foe. The
frigate kept her company until March 2d, doing her considerable damage,
and receiving some in return.
On that date twelve sail of Spanish men-of-war appeared, and the
Terpsichore hauled up for the Mediterranean.
Several ships from England joined the fleet, and the Admiral cruised
off Cadiz, with twenty-one sail-of-the-line, blockading twenty-six
Spanish ships, and the latter did not again appear at sea that year.
Admiral Cordova, and his two divisional flag-officers, Montlez and
Merino, together with eleven captains, were brought before a council of
war, to answer for their conduct in the battle. Nothing appears to have
come of it, for the personal gallantry of the officers was beyond all
dispute.
One fact is certain, that a Spanish three-decker, bearing a
Vice-Admiral’s flag, did her best to cut through the line, between the
Victory and Egmont.
In cases of this kind the officers are too frequently made the
scapegoats of a blundering Administration.
ENGLISH FLEET IN CANARY ISLANDS. A. D. 1797.
In addition to the blockade and bombardment of Cadiz, with which Lord
St. Vincent was carrying on an active warfare against the Spaniards, he
detached two expeditions against Santa Cruz, in the Canary Islands, in
the more important of which Rear-Admiral Nelson was not only repulsed,
but lost his arm, a model of which is still among the trophies and
_ex-votos_ to be seen in the Cathedral of that place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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