Battle of Cape St Vincent ( 1797 ) The Battle of Cape St Vincent ( 14 February 1797 ) was one of the opening battles of The Anglo - Spanish War ( 1796 – 1808 ) , as part of the French Revolutionary Wars , where a British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeated a larger Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos near Cape St . Vincent , Portugal . Origins . After the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796 allying Spanish and French forces against Great Britain , the British navy blockaded Spain in 1797 , impairing communications with its American colonies . The Spanish declaration of war on Britain and Portugal in October 1796 made the British position in the Mediterranean untenable . The combined Franco - Spanish fleet of 38 ships of the line heavily outnumbered the British Mediterranean Fleet of 15 ships of the line , forcing the British to evacuate their positions in first Corsica and then Elba . Early in 1797 , the Spanish fleet of 27 ships of the line , which were supposed to join the French fleet at Brest lay at Cartagena , on the Mediterranean Sea , with the intention of sailing to Cádiz as an escort of a 57 merchant convoy , carrying mainly mercury — necessary for gold and silver production — which would eventually enter that Spanish harbour along with warships " Neptuno " , " Terrible " and " Bahama " , prior to running into the British force . Don José de Córdoba and the Spanish fleet left Cartagena on 1 February and might have reached Cádiz safely but for a fierce Levanter , the easterly wind , blowing between Gibraltar and Cádiz , which pushed the Spanish fleet further out into the Atlantic than intended . As the winds died down , the fleet began working its way back to Cádiz . In the meantime , the British Mediterranean Fleet , under Admiral Sir John Jervis , had sailed from the Tagus with 10 ships of the line to try to intercept the Spanish fleet . On 6 February , Jervis was joined off Cape St . Vincent by a reinforcement of five ships of the line from the Channel Fleet under Rear - Admiral William Parker . On 11 February , the British frigate HMS " Minerve " , under the command of Commodore Horatio Nelson , passed through the Spanish fleet unseen thanks to heavy fog . Nelson reached the British fleet of 15 ships off Spain on 13 February , and passed the location of the Spanish fleet to Jervis , commanding the fleet from his flagship " Victory " . Unaware of the size of his opponent ' s fleet — in the fog , Nelson had not been able to count them — Jervis ' s squadron immediately sailed to intercept . Unaware of the British presence , the Spanish continued toward Cádiz . Early on the 14th , Jervis learnt that the Spanish fleet was 35 miles to windward . Battle . Early morning . During the night came the sounds that the English fleet had been waiting to hear – the signal guns of the Spanish ships in the fog . At 2 : 50 a . m . came the report that the Spanish fleet was some 15 miles distant . By early morning , at 5 : 30 a . m . , " Niger " reported them to be closer still . As the dawn came , it brought a cold and foggy February morning . In the increasing light , Jervis saw his fleet around him , formed into two lines of battle . He turned to his officers on the quarter - deck of Victory and said , " A victory to England is very essential at this moment . " Jervis gave orders for the fleet to prepare for the coming action . Captain Thomas Troubridge in " Culloden " was in the lead . At 6 : 30 a . m . , " Culloden " signalled that she could see 5 enemy sail to the south east , and then with " Blenheim " and " Prince George " turned toward the Spanish ships . Jervis had no idea of the size of the fleet he was up against . As they loomed up out of the fog , a signal lieutenant in " Barfleur " described them as " thumpers , looming like Beachy Head in a fog . " As dawn broke , Jervis ' s ships were in position to engage the Spanish . On the quarter - deck of " Victory " , Jervis , Captain Robert Calder and Captain Benjamin Hallowell counted the ships . It was at this point Jervis discovered that he was outnumbered nearly two - to - one : " There are eight sail of the line , Sir John " " Very well , sir " " There are twenty sail of the line , Sir John " " Very well , sir " " There are twenty five sail of the line , Sir John " " Very well , sir " " There are twenty seven sail of the line , Sir John " " Enough , sir , no more of that ; the die is cast , and if there are fifty sail I will go through them " Seeing that it would be difficult to disengage , Jervis decided to continue because the situation would only get worse were the Spanish fleet to join up with the French . Meanwhile , the Canadian Captain Hallowell became so excited that he thumped the Admiral on the back , " That ' s right Sir John , and , by God , we ' ll give them a damn good licking ! " As the light grew , it became obvious that the Spanish ships were formed in two loose columns , one of about 18 ships to windward and the other , of about 9 ships , somewhat closer to the British . At about 10 : 30 a . m . , the Spanish ships in the weather column were seen to wear ship and turn to port . This gave the impression that they might form a line and pass along the weather column of the British fleet , exposing the smaller British column to the fire of the larger Spanish division . At 11 : 00 a . m . , Jervis gave his order : Form in a line of battle ahead and astern of Victory as most convenient . When this order was completed the British fleet had formed a single line of battle , sailing in a southerly direction on a course to pass between the two Spanish columns . At 11 : 12 a . m . , Jervis made his next signal : Engage the enemy and then at 11 : 30 a . m . , Admiral intends to pass through enemy lines The Battle of Cape St . Vincent had begun . 11 : 30 a . m . . To the British advantage , the Spanish fleet was formed into two groups and was unprepared for battle , while the British were already in line . Jervis ordered the British fleet to pass between the two groups , minimising the fire they could put into him , while letting him fire in both directions 12 : 30 p . m . . " Culloden " tacked to reverse her course and take after the Spanish column . " Blenheim " and then " Prince George " did the same in succession . The Spanish lee division now put about to the port tack with the intention of breaking the British line at the point where the ships were tacking in succession . " Orion " came round but " Colossus " was in the course of going about when her foreyard and foretop yard were shot away . She was forced to wear ship instead of tack and the leading Spanish vessel came close enough to threaten her with a broadside . Saumarez in " Orion " saw the danger to his friends and backed his sails to give covering fire . As " Victory " came to the tacking point , another attempt was made to break the British line . " Victory " , however , was too fast and the leading Spaniard , a 3 decker , had to tack close to " Victory " and received a raking broadside as she did so . " We gave them their Valentine in style , " later wrote a gunner in " Goliath " . As the last ship in the British line passed the Spanish , the British line had formed a U shape with " Culloden " in the lead and on the reverse course but chasing the rear of the Spanish . At this point the Spanish lee division bore up to make an effort to join their compatriots to windward . Had they managed to do this , the battle would have ended indecisively and with the Spanish fleet running for Cádiz . The British ships would have been left harrying their sterns in much the manner of the Armada , 1588 . 1 : 05 p . m . . At 1 : 05 p . m . , Jervis hoisted a signal : Take suitable stations for mutual support and engage the enemy as coming up in succession Nelson had returned to his own ship " Captain " ( a seventy - four , ) and was now towards the rear of the British line , much closer to the larger group . He came to the conclusion that the manoeuvre could not be completed so as to allow the British to catch them . Unless the movements of the Spanish ships could be thwarted , everything so far gained would be lost . Interpreting Jervis ' signal loosely , and disobeying previous orders , Nelson gave orders to Captain Ralph Miller to wear ship and to take " Captain " out of line while engaging the smaller group . As soon as the seventy - four was around , Nelson directed her to pass between " Diadem " and " Excellent " and ran across the bows of the Spanish ships forming the central group of the weather division . This group included the " Santísima Trinidad " , the largest ship afloat at the time and mounting 130 guns , the " San José " , 112 , " Salvador del Mundo " , 112 , " San Nicolás " , 84 , " San Ysidro " 74 and the " Mexicano " 112 . Nelson ' s decision to wear ship was significant . As a junior commander , he was subject to the orders of his Commander in Chief ( Admiral Jervis ) ; in taking this action he was acting against the " form line ahead and astern of " Victory " " order and using his own wide interpretation of " take suitable stations " in the later signal . Had the action failed , he would have been subject to court - martial for disobeying orders in the face of the enemy , with subsequent loss of command and disgrace . At about 1 : 30 p . m . , " Culloden " was gradually overhauling the Spanish rear and began a renewed but not very close engagement of the same group of ships . Jervis signalled his rearmost ship , " Excellent " to come to the wind on the larboard tack and following this order , Collingwood brought his ship round to a position ahead of " Culloden " . After a few more minutes , " Blenheim " and " Prince George " came up behind and the group of British ships prevented the Spanish from grouping together . The " Captain " was now under fire from as many as six Spanish ships , of which three were 112 - gun three - deckers and a fourth Córdoba ’ s 130 - gun flagship " Santísima Trinidad " . At about 2 : 00 p . m . , " Culloden " had stretched so far ahead as to cover the " Captain " from the heavy fire poured into her by the Spanish four - decker and her companions , as they hauled up and brought their broadsides to bear . Of the respite thus afforded to her , the " Captain " took immediate advantage , replenishing her lockers with shot and splicing and repairing her running rigging . At about 2 : 30 , " Excellent " having been directed by signal to bear up , edged away and at 2 : 35 , arriving abreast of the disabled Spanish three - decker " Salvator del Mundo " , engaged the latter on her weather bow for a few minutes ; then passing on to the next Spanish ship in succession , the " San Ysidro " , whose three topmasts had already been shot away . This ship Captain Collingwood engaged closely until 2 : 50 when , after a gallant defence in her crippled state , the " San Ysidro " hauled down the Spanish flag . Moments later , " Excellent " and " Diadem " commenced an attack on the " Salvator del Mundo " , with " Excellent " stationing herself on the weather bow and " Diadem " on the lee quarter of the Spanish three - decker . Observing that the " Victory " was about to pass close astern , the " Salvator del Mundo " , which had more or less been disabled , judiciously hauled down her flag as soon as some of Victory ' s bow guns came to bear . 3 : 00 p . m . . By about 3 : 00 , " Excellent " was already in close action with " San Nicolás " which , with foretop mast shot away , had been in action against " Captain " . " Excellent " fired broadsides into " San Nicolás " and then made sail to clear ahead . To avoid " Excellent " , " San Nicolás " luffed up and ran foul of " San José " , which had suffered the loss of mizzen mast and other damage . " Captain " was by now almost uncontrollable with her wheel shot away . At this point , her foretop mast fell over the side leaving her in a completely unmanageable state and with little option but to board the Spanish vessels . " Captain " opened fire on the Spanish vessels with her larboard ( port ) side broadside and then put the helm over and hooked her larboard cat - head with the starboard quarter of " San Nicolás " . At 3 : 20 , with a cry of " Westminster Abbey or Glorious Victory ! " , Nelson ordered his boarders to cross the first Spanish ship onto the second . He later wrote , The soldiers of the 69th , with an alacrity which will ever do them credit , and Lieutenant Pearson of the same regiment , were almost the foremost on this service – the first man who jumped into the enemy ' s mizen chains was Commander Berry , late my First Lieutenant ( Captain Miller was in the very act of going also , but I directed him to remain ) ; he was supported from our sprit sail yard , which hooked in the mizen rigging . A soldier of the 69th Regiment having broken the upper quarter - gallery window , I jumped in myself , and was followed by others as fast as possible . I found the cabin doors fastened , and some Spanish officers fired their pistols : but having broke open the doors the soldiers fired , and the Spanish Brigadier fell , as retreating to the quarter - deck . I pushed immediately onwards for the quarter - deck , where I found Commander Berry in possession of the poop , and the Spanish ensign hauling down . I passed with my people , and Lieutenant Pearson , on the larboard gangway , to the forecastle , where I met two or three Spanish officers , prisoners to my seamen : they delivered me their swords . A fire of pistols , or muskets , opening from the stern gallery of the San Josef , I directed the soldiers to fire into her stern ; and calling to Captain Miller , ordered him to send more men into the San Nicolas ; and directed my people to board the first - rate , which was done in an instant , Commander Berry assisting me into the main chains . At this moment a Spanish officers looked over the quarter deck rail , and said they surrendered . From this most welcome intelligence , it was not long before I was on the quarter deck , where the captain , with a bow , presented me his sword , and said the admiral was dying of his wounds . I asked him on his honour if the ship was surrendered . He declared she was : on which i gave him my hand , and desired him to call on his officers and ship ' s company and tell them of it : which he did – and on the quarter deck of a Spanish first - rate , extravagant as the story may seem , did I receive the swords of vanquished Spaniards : which as I received , I gave to William Fearney , one of my bargemen , who put them , with the greatest sang - froid , under his arm . Both Spanish vessels were successfully captured . This manoeuvre was so unusual and so widely admired in the Royal Navy that using one enemy ship to cross to another became known facetiously as " " Nelson ' s patent bridge for boarding enemy vessels . " " By the time " Santísima Trinidad " had struck her colours to surrender , " Pelayo " and " San Pablo " , separated from de Córdoba ' s group during action , having been dispatched by the commander the day before , sailed in and bore down on " Diadem " and " Excellent " . " Pelayo " ´s captain Cayetano Valdés warned " Santísima Trinidad " to fly her flag again under threat she would be deemed an enemy ship and raked . The Spanish four - decker raised her flag . She was saved from being captured by the British . By 4 : 00 , the Spanish ship " Santísima Trinidad " was relieved by two of her escorts and made away from the scene . Admiral Moreno ' s squad put together the survivors of Córdoba ' s group and turned to assist the harassed Spanish sails . Jervis signalled his fleet to cover the prizes and disabled vessels and at 4 : 15 the frigates were directed to take the prizes in tow . At 4 : 39 the fleet was ordered to take station in line astern of " Victory " . The battle was by now almost over with only some remaining skirmishing between " Britannia " , " Orion " and the departing Spanish covering " Santísima Trinidad " ( which was to later serve as the Spanish flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar ) . End of the battle . Nelson remained on board the captured Spanish ships while they were made secure – and was cheered by the British ships as they passed . He returned to the " Captain " to thank Captain Miller and presented him with the sword of the captain of the " San Nicolás " . At 5 : 00 , Nelson shifted his pennant from the disabled " Captain " to " Irresistible " . The Battle of Cape St . Vincent had cost the lives of 73 men of the Royal Navy and wounded a further 227 ( this figure only includes serious injuries ) . Casualties amongst the Spanish ships were far higher – aboard " San Nicolás " alone 144 were killed . Then , still black with smoke and with his uniform in shreds , Nelson went on board " Victory " where he was received on the quarter - deck by Admiral Jervis – " the Admiral embraced me , said he could not sufficiently thank me , and used every kind expression which could not fail to make me happy . " It was a great and welcome victory for the Royal Navy – 15 British ships had defeated a Spanish fleet of 27 , and the Spanish ships had a greater number of guns and men . But , Admiral Jervis had trained a highly disciplined force and this was pitted against an inexperienced Spanish navy under Don José Córdoba . The Spanish men fought fiercely but without direction . After the " San José " was captured it was found that some of her guns still had their tampion s in the muzzles . The confusion amongst the Spanish fleet was so great that they were unable to use their guns without causing more damage to their own ships than to the British . Aftermath . Jervis had given orders to destroy the four prizes had the action restarted . Several days later , the frigate ( 32 ) spotted the damaged " Santísima Trinidad " making her way back to Spain . The captain , Orozco , now commissioned by de Cordoba had flown his flag in frigate " Diana " . " Terpsichore " engaged but kept always out of range from the stern guns of the ship anytime " Santísima Trinidad " bore down on the English frigate . " Terpsichore " nonetheless was hit twice with those cannons in a sudden move , resulting in damage in her rigging , masts and sails as well as some impacts on her hull . Captain Richard Bowen then ordered to keep the pursuit but from a longer distance until the frigate vanished away . In the battle as a whole , the British casualties were 73 killed , 227 badly wounded , and about 100 lightly wounded . The Spanish casualties were about 1 , 000 men killed or wounded . While the British fleet lay at Lagos Bay , in Portugal , the Spanish prisoners received from the four prizes , numbering about 3000 , were landed . Jervis was made Baron Jervis of Meaford and Earl St Vincent . Nelson was knighted as a member of the Order of the Bath . Nelson ' s promotion to Rear - Admiral was not a reward for his services , but simply a happy coincidence : promotion to flag rank in the Navy of the time was based on seniority on the Captain ' s list and not on achievement . The now Earl St Vincent was granted a pension for life of £3 , 000 . 00 per year . The City of London presented him with the Freedom of the City in a gold box valued at 100 guineas and awarded both him and Nelson a ceremonial sword . The presentation box and sword are both currently held at the National Maritime Museum , Greenwich . The two swords awarded Jervis and Nelson were the first of their kind to be issued by the City of London . St Vincent was awarded the thanks of both Houses of Parliament and given a gold medal by the King . The London Gazette published an advertisement in 1798 regarding the prize money that was due to the officers and men who had fought at the battle . The sum quoted was £140 , 000 . 00 of which , as admiral , Jervis was entitled to a sizeable share . In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp " St . Vincent " to all surviving claimants from the battle . Cordóba was dismissed from the Spanish navy and forbidden from appearing at court . Jervis resumed his blockade of the Spanish fleet in Cadiz . The continuation of the blockade for most of the following three years , largely curtailed the operations of the Spanish fleet until the Peace of Amiens in 1802 . The containment of the Spanish threat , and the further reinforcement of his command , enabled Jervis to send a squadron under Nelson back into the Mediterranean the following year . That squadron , including Saumarez ’ s " Orion " , Troubridge ’ s " Culloden " and the " Goliath " , now under Foley , re - established British command of the Mediterranean at the Battle of the Nile . Order of Battle . British fleet . Admiral Sir John Jervis was on his flagship " Victory " . The British ships are listed in order from van to rear . Many of the British wounded were badly wounded and later died .