Battle of La Guaira The Battle of La Guaira or La Guayra , took place on 2 March 1743 in the Caribbean , off the coast of La Guaira , present day Venezuela . La Guaira was a port of the Royal Gipuzkoan Company of Caracas , whose ships had rendered great assistance to the Spanish navy during the war in carrying troops , arms , stores and ammunition from Spain to her colonies , and its destruction would be a severe blow both to the Company and the Spanish Government . A British expeditionary fleet under Sir Charles Knowles was defeated , and the expedition ended in failure . 400 men were killed and wounded , among whom was the captain of the " Burford " , and many of the ships were badly damaged or lost . Sir Charles was therefore unable to proceed to Puerto Cabello until he had refitted . Background . The British Admiralty had decided to prosecute the war against the Spanish settlements , though on a different scale from that of the great expeditions of 1741 and 1742 . Sir Chaloner Ogle , who had replaced Admiral Edward Vernon after the defeat at the Battle of Cartagena de Indias in 1741 , prepared an invasion of another important commercial port on the Spanish Main . Believing La Guaira to be not well defended , Sir Chaloner Ogle wanted to take advantage and attack . On 22 February 1743 , Sir Charles Knowles sailed from the island of Antigua with 19 ships : Knowles underestimated the defences of La Guaira , believing it to be less well defended than Cartagena de Indias had been . He arrived at La Tortuga island on 27 February . It is said that the Spaniards had two months warning of the attack ; whether this be true or not cannot definitely be stated . Battle . At first light of the day , Knowles ' squadron was east of the port of La Guaira and the " Otter " was sent ahead to reconnoitre the inner harbour . Spanish lookouts lit signal fires at 6 : 30 A . M . , alerting the Spanish at both La Guaira and Caracas and bringing Governor Gabriel de Zuloaga down to the coast with a large body of militia that had been recruited from Colonel Dalzell ' s regiment in the West Indies . The commander of the Spanish garrison Mateo Gual and Captain José Iturriaga prepared for an impending assault . About midday HMS " Burford " stood into the roadstead , followed by " Eltham " , " Norwich " , " Suffolk " , " Advice " and " Assistance " . Despite the hail of rounds from six batteries the English men - of - war anchored in a double line by 1 : 00 P . M . and began a furious exchange . The Spanish counterfire proved unexpectedly heavy and accurate and this combined with a heavy swell prevented any British disembarkation . The Spanish had been forewarned of Knowles ' s intentions to capture La Guaira . After three and a half hours , " Burford " cut the anchor cable and moved out of range ; the frigate " Eltham " had also been damaged . Both accidentally ran afoul of " Norwich " , and all three ships left the action , reducing Knowles ' s overall effort . Shooting ceased at sundown , around 8 : 00 P . M , with the battered " Burford " seeking shelter to leeward , escorted by " Norwich " , " Otter " , and " Assistance " which could not anchor . The English resumed a rather desultorily bombardment at dawn the following day with the bomb vessel " Comet " . De Zuloaga was obliged to return to Caracas his capital on 4 March to reassure an uneasy populace that the enemy had not come ashore . At 3 : 00 A . M on 5 March Knowles sent boat parties into La Guaira ' s roadstead , they boarded a French merchantman before being discovered and driven off . Aftermath . Having suffered 97 killed and 308 wounded over three days , Knowles decided to retire west before sunrise on 6 March and attack nearby Puerto Cabello . Despite instructing his captains to rendezvous at Borburata Keys — east of Puerto Cabello — the detached " Burford " , " Norwich " , " Assistance " , and " Otter " proceeded to Curaçao , compelling the commodore to angrily follow them in . On 28 March he sent his smaller ships to cruise off Puerto Cabello , and once his main body had been refitted , went to sea again on 31 March , only to then struggle against contrary winds and currents for two weeks before finally diverting to the eastern tip of Santo Domingo by 19 April .