Action of 12 – 17 January 1640 The Action of 12 – 17 January 1640 was a naval battle between a Dutch fleet and a combined Spanish - Portuguese fleet during the Eighty Years ' War . The battle took place on the Brazilian coast off Pernambuco and was an attempt by a fleet consisting of approximately eighty vessels transporting about 5 , 000 soldiers under the command of Portuguese Admiral Fernando de Mascarenhas to land reinforcements to bolster the Portuguese militia besieging the city of Recife . On the 12th of January this fleet was intercepted by a Dutch task force of about forty ships commanded by Willem Loos . The ensuing battle lasted with occasional breaks until the evening of the 17th January , when the Spanish and Portuguese fleet retreated and sailed away to the north . Background . About 30 Spanish and Portuguese vessels under Admiral don Lope de Hoces arrived off the Dutch Brazil in November 1635 . Although the fleet failed to overran Pernambuco , supplies and 2 , 500 Spanish , Portuguese , and Neapolitan reinforcements were successfully landed at the Lagunas under General Luis de Rojas . The Dutch vessels in the area were driven off and De Hoces spent some months escorting a sugar convoy to the Spanish Main and preparing a counter - invasion the to Dutch - held island of Curaçao which was finally abandoned because the siege train was lost in a wreck . The expedition was seen as success in Spain , however , because the landed troops greatly contributed to defeat John Maurits of Nassau ' s attack over Bahia . Another expedition was planned at Hoces ' a arrivel to retake the Dutch base of Pernambuco . The command of this expedition would be entrusted to Miguel de Noronha , 4th Count of Linhares , for which he was appointed Capitán General del Mar Océano , but he eventually declined to led the fleet as he did not trust in the success of the expedition . García Álvarez de Toledo , 6th Marquis of Villafranca also rejected its command , but not the Count of Torre , Dom Fernando de Mascarenhas , former Portuguese governor of Tangier . The same day that the French siege of Hondarribia was lifted , he was given the command of 41 ships , of which 23 were Portuguese and were commanded by Admiral Dom Francisco Melo de Castro and Vice Adm . Dom Cosme Couto de Barbosa , and 18 were Castilian under Admiral Juan de la Vega y Bazán and Vice Adm . Francisco Díaz de Pimienta . 5 , 000 soldiers of infantry were embarked aboard this ships . Half of them were of the Tercio de Anfibios , a unit specialized in the naval fighting . The fleet stopped at the islands of Cape Verde , where an epidemic struck the crews of the ships , resulting in the death of 3 , 000 men and a number plus larger of incapacitated at the arrival of the fleet to Salvador da Bahia . Mascarenhas , ignoring his orders for an immediate assault upon Recife , spent about a year in the town before set sail again , which was done on January 1640 with the intention of land 1 , 200 soldiers under Luís Barbalho Bezerra to reinforce the Portuguese guerrilla surrounding the Dutch garrison of Pernambuco . Battle . A Dutch fleet of 36 ships under Admiral Willem Corneliszoon Loos and Vice Adm . Jacob Huygens emerged from Recife and intercepted the Spanish - Portuguese fleet between Itamaracá and Goiana on 12 January , before any attempt of disembarkation could be effected . The battle degenerated in a confused melee in which Loos lost 2 of his vessels , while Loos himself was killed aboard his flagship , while confronting Mascarenhas flagship . Some Dutch ships managed to approach and disengage it from the Spanish flagship , but the vessel sank , taking down the admiral . Another Dutch ship , the " Alemar " , was riddled by the Spanish guns and nearly sank , being unable to continue the pursuit . Vice Adm . Huygens , now aboard Loos ' former flagship the " Faam " , continued the chase and the action was resumed the following day between Goiana and Cabo Branco . The Dutch fought a long - range battle using their superior artillery , but the only ship lost that day was the Dutch " Soleil Brillant " , badly damaged and sank with its commander and 44 soldiers . On 14 January Huygens renewed the attack off Paraíba . The Portuguese galleon of Capt . António da Cunha Andrade was captured , and another Spanish vessel of the Squadron of Castile ran aground and was boarded while fighting the Dutch " Zwaan " . Its crew under the Neapolitan Colonel Héctor della Calce was taken prisoner . The Dutch " Zwaan " , under Rear Admiral Aldrichsz , lost its mainmast and , washed away , ran aground on the coast . Compelled to sail northwest , the Spanish - Portuguese fleet arrived before Rio Grande closely followed by the Dutch . The lack of wind prevented both fleets from attack each other until 17 January . That day the Dutch won the winward and attacked the Spanish - Portuguese . Mascarenhas ship was damaged , after which the Dutch fleet abandoned the pursuit and the Spanish - Portuguese vessels could land the army at Cape São Roque , too far to threaten Recife . Although the battle had been largely indecisive , the Dutch objective of impede the Spanish disembarkation near Recife was accomplished . The behavior of three captains in the battle , nevertheless , displeased the Count of Nassau , who condemned them to death " " for not fulfilling his military duties in front of the galleons of Spain " " . Mascarenhas was also punished , being arrested upon his arrival on Spain . Aftermath . The Dutch garrison of Recife was increased in March 1640 by 2 , 500 soldiers carried aboard 28 ships under Amidrals Cornelis Jol and jan Lichthart , who was in charge of naval operations to disrupt the Portuguese sugar trade . In December Portugal revolted against the Spanish Habsburg rule , proclaiming the seventh Duke of Bragança as King João IV in place of Philip IV of Spain . Although the Dutch welcomed the news of the revolt , expecting the Portuguese to become their allies , this did not happen , as the Dutch had no wish to restore the occupied territories to Portugal . Recife served as base for an expedition under Jol and Lichthart , in 1641 , to seize Portugal ' s slaving depots in Angola before any treaty could be concluded in Europe , and despite a ten - year truce between both countries was signed in 12 June , the hostilities continued , resulting in the expulsion of the Dutch from Brazil in 1654 .