Voyage of the Glorioso The voyage of the " Glorioso " involved four naval engagements fought in 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession between the Spanish 70 - gun ship of the line " Glorioso " and several British squadrons of ships of the line and frigate s which tried to capture it . The " Glorioso " , carrying four million silver dollars from the Americas , was able to repel two British attacks off the Azores and Cape Finisterre , successfully landing her cargo at the port of Corcubión , Spain . Several days after unloading the cargo , while sailing to Cadiz for repairs , " Glorioso " was attacked successively near Cape St Vincent by four British privateer frigates and the ships of the line HMS " Dartmouth " and HMS " Russell " from Admiral John Byng ' s fleet . The " Dartmouth " blew up killing most of her crew , but the 92 - gun " Russell " eventually forced the " Glorioso " to strike the colours . The British took her to Lisbon , where she had to be broken up because of the extensive damage suffered during the last battle . The commander of the ship , Pedro Messia de la Cerda , and his men , were taken to Great Britain as prisoners , but were considered heroes in Spain and gained the admiration of their enemies . Several British officers were court - martial ed and expelled from the Navy for their poor performance against the enemy . The battles . First battle . In July 1747 the Spanish ship of the line " Glorioso " , launched at Havana on 1740 and under the command of Captain Pedro Messia de la Cerda , was returning to Spain from America , carrying a large shipment of about four million silver dollars , when on 25 July , off the island of Flores , one of the Azores , a British merchant convoy was sighted blurred by the fog . At noon the fog began to dissipate and de la Cerda found that there were ten British ships , three of which were warships : the 60 - gun ship of the line " Warwick " , the 40 - gun frigate " Lark " , and a 20 - gun brig . De la Cerda cleared for action , but he tried to avoid combat , keeping to windward so as not to risk losing the cargo for which he was responsible . The British ships began to pursue the Spanish ship , and at 9 : 00 p . m . the lighter sloop caught up with the " Glorioso " and there was an ineffectual exchange of fire between the two . But at 2 : 00 p . m . there was a squall that took the wind from the " Glorioso " and allowed the other British ships to come up . John Crookshanks , commanding officer of the convoy ’ s escort , sent the brig to protect the merchantmen and ordered HMS " Lark " to attack the " Glorioso " . The result of this was that the heavy gunfire from the Spanish ship of the line left the British fifth - rate frigate badly damaged in the hull and the rigging . HMS " Warwick " then arrived and began to engage the " Glorioso " , only to be completely dismasted and forced to withdraw . The " Glorioso " was hit by four cannon balls in the hull , and suffered damage to the rigging . There were five killed ( two of whom were civilians ) and 44 wounded on the " Glorioso " . Despite widespread damage , HMS " Warwick " had only four seamen killed and 20 wounded . When the British Admiralty was notified about this engagement , Crookshanks was court - martialed for denial of help and negligence in combat . Declared guilty for the defeat , he was dismissed from the Navy , although he was allowed to retain his rank . Second . After this first engagement , the " Glorioso " continued sailing to Spain . Some of the damage sustained during the battle could be repaired during the passage , but the more substantial damage needed to be repaired in a port . Despite this the " Glorioso " was able to repel the attack of three British ships from Admiral John Byng ' s fleet in sight of Cape Finisterre . These ships were the 50 - gun ship of the line HMS " Oxford " , the 24 - gun frigate HMS " Shoreham " and the 20 - gun brig HMS " Falcon " . After a three - hour long fight , the three ships had suffered heavy damage , and they were forced to withdraw . Captain Callis of HMS " Oxford " was later court - martialed , but unlike Commodore Crookshanks , he was honourably acquitted . The " Glorioso " lost her bowsprit and sustained several casualties , but the next day , 16 August , she finally entered the port of Corcubión , Galicia , and unloaded her cargo . Third and fourth . In Corcubión , " Glorioso " ’ s crew could make the necessary repairs to make the ship seaworthy . After that , Captain de la Cerda decided to head to Ferrol , but contrary wind s damaged " Glorioso " s rigging and the ship was forced instead to make for Cadiz . She initially sailed away from the Portuguese coast to avoid further clashes with British ships . However , on 17 October , she encountered a squadron of four British privateers under Commodore George Walker near Cape Saint Vincent . This squadron , called the ' Royal Family ' because of the names of the ships , was composed of the frigates " King George " , " Prince Frederick " , " Princess Amelia " and " Duke " , altogether carrying 960 men and 120 guns . At 8 a . m . the " King George " , flagship of the division , managed to approach the " Glorioso " and the two ships exchanged fire , with the British frigate losing her mainmast and two guns as a result of " Glorioso " s first salvo . The Spanish and British ships duelled for three hours , taking heavy damage that forced her to break off contact . The " Glorioso " continued sailing to the south , being pursued by the three frigates , which were later reinforced by two ships of the line , the 50 - gun HMS " Dartmouth " and the 92 - gun HMS " Russell " . The captain of the " Dartmouth " , John Hamilton , managed to place his ship next to the " Glorioso " ; nevertheless after a fierce exchange of fire the British ship caught fire on her powder magazine and blew up at 3 : 30 PM of 8 October . Captain Hamilton and most of the crew perished in the flames . Only a lieutenant , Christopher O ’ Brien , and 11 seamen survived the explosion . Some sources mention 14 survivors from a crew of 300 . According to one survivor , HMS " Darmouth " was already dismasted and heavy damaged by the Spanish gunfire when a round from " Glorioso " hit the light - room of the magazine , starting a fire that ignited the powder and blew the ship up . He recalled 15 seamean rescued out of a crew of 325 . These men were saved by life boats from the " Prince Frederick " . The three frigates joined the " Russell " the following evening and together riddled the " Glorioso " with all their guns . The Spanish ship resisted from midnight to 9 AM , when about to sink , almost completely dismasted and with 33 men killed and 130 wounded on board , Captain don Pedro Messia de la Cerda , seeing that the defence was impossible , surrendered her . HMS " Russell " had 12 seamen killed and several wounded . Another eight men died aboard " King George " . Aftermath . After the battle the British ships sailed to Lisbon , taking the " Glorioso " with them . The Spanish ship of the line was surveyed , but not taken into the Royal Navy , and was broken up . Commodore Walker , commander of the four privateer frigates , was severely reprimanded by one of the owners of the " Royal Family " for risking his ship against a superior enemy . Walker , dissenting , responded : Captain de la Cerda and his men , who had been taken on board the " Prince Frederick " and the " King George " , were brought to Great Britain and imprisoned in London , where they became the subject of the admiration of their enemies . De la Cerda was later promoted to commodore for his gallant courage in combat and the surviving crew received rewards on their return to Spain . According to some British sources , the defence of the " Glorioso " ranks foremost in Spanish naval history .