Battle of Castlehaven The Battle of Castlehaven was a naval battle that took place on 6 December 1601 in the bay off Castlehaven on the south coast of Ireland during the Nine Years ' War between a Spanish naval convoy of six ships and an English fleet , commanded by Admiral Richard Leveson and consisting of four warships . Protecting the Spanish convoy were fortified positions on shore , a castle and 600 Spanish and Irish footmen . Five out of six Spanish ships , commanded by General Pedro de Zubiaur were either sunk captured or run aground in the battle , while the English fleet lost no ships . Background . On 23 September 1601 a Spanish Fleet under Don Juan del Águila arrived in Kinsale harbour . Zubiaur with six ships became separated from the main fleet . Eventually Zubiar arrived with a total force of 2000 men near Castlehaven on 1 December . At that time Castlehaven Castle was held by the O ' Driscoll clan and they welcomed the Spanish . On 2 December , a day after the Spanish arrived in Castlehaven , Lord Mountjoy was informed that seven Spanish ships had entered the harbour of Castlehaven . On 4 December , Mountjoy received confirmation of the story . The danger posed by the Spaniards ’ arrival was immediately realized , and Mountjoy took immediate steps to strengthen English defences . The commander of the English naval forces at Kinsale , Admiral Leveson , was ordered to " seeke the Spanish fleete at Castlehaven , to take them if he could , or otherwise to distresse them as much as he might . " Leveson then left his vice - admiral Preston to guard Kinsale harbour and took the rest of the fleet heavily armed to Castlehaven . Battle . Leveson had with him four naval vessels , " Warspite " , " Defiance " , " Swiftsure " , and " Merlin " , as well as a merchantman and a carvel . The following day , the wind was blowing inland , thereby preventing the English ships from leaving . Leveson had his vessels towed out of Kinsale harbour , and he then set off for Castlehaven . At 10 o ’ clock the next morning , 6 December , Leveson ’ s fleet arrived off Castlehaven . Zubiaur however was ready for them with an eight - gun battery at the mouth of the harbour . A Captain Fleming commanding the 10 gun " Merlin " rowed through Spanish fire to make a channel for the 518 ton " Warspite " to follow . A heavy pounding from the Spanish shore batteries and the vessels ensued which Leveson said ‘ much annoyed ’ him . From then until four o ’ clock that afternoon the two sides battled . The 200 ton Spanish flagship was sunk with most hands . Zubiaur ’ s other 200 ton vessel began to sink and settled in shallow water . Three more Spanish vessels were pounded until their crews forced them onto the rocks after sustaining continuous fire particularly from the big galleons " Defiance " and " Warspite " . Finally a Spanish merchant was boarded and captured and was found to have wheat and biscuits before being abandoned and it too being driven aground . With all but one of the Spanish vessels neutralised , and with the wind blowing onshore , Leveson managed to withdraw his ships , being towed out under fire from the remaining shore batteries . The Spanish were now being reinforced by more Irish foot men . Leveson ' s ships were running low on ammunition as they were continually returning fire . The fleet had suffered moderate damage ; " Warspite " alone had suffered twelve killed and forty wounded out of a total of 150 casualties but no ships were lost . Aftermath . Most of the time Leveson had to tow his ships to Kinsale as the wind never seemed to be in his favour . Leveson had achieved a victory , neutralising Zubiaur ’ s naval potential . He would assist in Mountjoy ' s siege of Kinsale ; he closed off the bay and blockaded it from the sea which was crucial to the English victory there . The Spanish garrison at Castlehaven was now cut off but distributed themselves around the area ; at Baltimore ( Donneshed Castle ) , but these soon surrendered when news of the defeat at Kinsale came through . Pedro De Zubiaur made his way back to Spain and was arrested for his responsibilities but later released .