Battle of Tarragona ( August 1641 ) < br > The naval Battle of Tarragona of August 1641 took place between 20 – 25 August 1641 , between the Spanish and French fleets during the French stage of the Thirty Years ' War . The Spanish fleet , led by the Duke of Fernandina and the Duke of Maqueda broke the French naval blockade over Tarragona and defeated the French fleet under Henri d ' Escoubleau de Sourdis , forcing it to retreat . The city was also besieged by land since April by a Franco - Catalan army commanded by Philippe de La Mothe - Houdancourt . The Spanish success in driving Sourdis out of the area , together with the arrival of a relief force sent by land , forced the Franco - Catalan army to leave the siege , and to retreat to Valls , pursued by the Spanish army . The Spanish victory prevented the fall of Tarragona to the Franco - Catalan allies , for which Cardinal Richelieu deprived Sourdis of his office and replaced him by the young Jean Armand de Maillé - Brézé , his nephew . In spite of his success , the Duke of Fernandina was also dismissed from duty . The Count - Duke of Olivares was dissatisfied because the Duke of Fernandina failed to destroy the French fleet , and imprisoned him . The case was truly unusual : the two admirals , both the victor and the vanquished , had the same bitter reward . However , the ostracism of the French Admiral was final , while the Spanish Admiral was soon restored after the fall of Olivares in 1643 , and even became part of the " Council of the King of Spain " . Background . On April 1641 , the Catalan rebels and the French troops led by Marshal Philippe de La Mothe - Houdancourt sent to support them , launched an offensive to capture Tarragona , one of the few remaining Catalan towns in Spanish hands . On 29 April , La Mothe was in front of Tarragona with his army , composed by 10 , 000 infantry and 2 , 000 cavalry , and laid siege to the town . The French Mediterranean fleet , commanded by Henri d ' Escoubleau de Sourdis , was deployed to support the land operations , and the French Admiral began a naval blockade of Tarragona . Between 4 and 6 July 1641 , a large Spanish galley fleet led by the Duke of Fernandina attempted to break the French naval blockade over Tarragona . He succeeded at a heavy cost to introduce some relief into Tarragona , but failed to break the blockade . < br > " For more details , see Naval Battle of Tarragona ( July 1641 ) " In response to the failure , Philip IV of Spain ordered to assemble a second , far bigger force , to force Sourdis to abandon his blockade and introduce soldiers and supplies into the town . The command of this new fleet was entrusted to the Duke of Maqueda , who sailed from Cádiz on 20 July . The squadrons of Galicia and Dunkirk , and the galleys of Naples , Sicily and Genoa were gathered at Cartagena . The Duke of Fernandina joined this force with the remains of his fleet , increasing its strength to 30 or 35 galleon s and frigates , 29 galleys and 65 transport ships full of supplies . At the dawn of August 20 , they reached the waters of the besieged city . Battle of Tarragona . The French fleet , composed of 14 galleons , 13 pataches , 17 galleys and 3 fireships , was soon put on line and opened fire on the Spanish fleet . Sourdis ' vice - admiral was ahead with 6 ships and 5 galleys , Sourdis followed him with 11 ships and 7 galleys , while 12 ships and 5 galleys closed the formation . Sourdis sailed towards the Point of Salou , attempting to bar the way to Maqueda . The Spaniards immediately responded to the fire with their galleons , causing serious damage to the French galleons , and forcing the French fleet to leave the harbor entrance . With the blockade broken , and the French fleet engaged in battle with the Spanish galleons , the Spanish convoy of 65 ships , escorted by some Spanish galleys , entered the port , to the great joy of the defenders . Having achieved the main objective , the Spanish galleys were reorganized and attacked the flank of the French fleet . At the same time , Maqueda fell upon the French vanguard supported by his galleons . In the middle of the action , the ship under admiral Orellana lost its mainsail and had to be relieved by the " Testa de Oro " . The French galleons " Forte " and " Licorne " were put out of action , but Sourdis did not lost a single ship . Having managed to hold off a superior fleet , he ordered the withdrawal on 25 August . But if he had saved his whole fleet , the Spaniards had obtained the naval control of the area . The siege of Tarragona was lifted , and the Spanish fleet was able to provision the towns of Roses , Perpignan and Collioure . Consequences . In France , the powerful minister of Louis XIII , Cardinal Richelieu , angered by the defeat , deprived Sourdis of his office and replaced him by the young naval officer Jean Armand de Maillé - Brézé . In Spain , in spite of his success , also Don García de Toledo , Duke of Fernandina , was deprived of his charge . The Count - Duke of Olivares feel dissatisfied because Fernandina did not destroyed the French fleet , and imprisoned him . The case was truly unusual : the two admirals , both the victor and the vanquished , had the same bitter reward . However , the ostracism of the French Admiral was final , while Spanish was soon restored after the fall of Olivares in 1643 , back in charge , and even became part of the " Council of the King of Spain . " Regarding to Sourdis disgrace , the Spanish admiral Gianettino Doria said that " " Would to Heaven that I had made a similar retreat , my fortune would be made forever " " . He was impressed by how Sourdis had fought off a fleet four time superior in numbers and had retired without the loss of a single vessel . But the war continued , and the following year , a new Spanish fleet organized at Cádiz to relieve the isolated garrisons of Roses and Collioure was prevented to do so by Jean Armand de Maillé - Brézé in the Battle of Barcelona ( 1642 ) , which sealed the loss of Perpignan to France shortly afterwards .