Battle of Cádiz ( 1669 ) The battle of Cádiz was a naval engagement fought 18 – 19 December 1669 in the waters near Cádiz between the English fourth - rate frigate " Mary Rose " under the command of Rear - Admiral John Kempthorne , escorting several merchantmen , and a group of seven pirate ships operating out of Algiers . The incident was recorded and drawn by the engraver Wenceslaus Hollar , with an engraving appearing in John Ogilby ' s " Africa " . The action occurred while the " Mary Rose " was returning from a diplomatic mission to Mulay Rashid ( referred to as " Tafiletta " in early English sources ) , the sultan of Morocco , that had been conducted by Lord Henry Howard , with Hollar accompanying him in order to complete some drawings and maps of Tangier that he had begun some years earlier . The frigate was towing a merchant ship , the " King David " , that Kempthorne had recaptured from Barbary pirates , and was accompanied by five other vessels . The convoy encountered a group of seven pirate ships on the 18th December 1669 , with six attacking the " Mary Rose " while one pursued the " King David " that Kempthorne had cut loose . The pirates withdrew as night fell , resuming their attack on the morning of the 19th . Despite the " Mary Rose " sustaining damage to all three masts , she held off the attack , and the pirates withdrew , capturing only the " King David " . After repairs at Cádiz the " Mary Rose " returned to England in April 1670 , and Kempthorne was knighted for " his very great valour " . A version of Hollar ' s engraving of the battle was done by Willem van de Velde the Younger . Background . The " Mary Rose " , a fourth - rate frigate of the English Royal Navy carrying forty - eight guns , conveyed Lord Henry Howard , with an entourage of 70 attendants and £4000 in gifts , to Tangier in 1668 or 1669 . The visit was on the order of Charles II to negotiate a commercial treaty with the sultan of Morocco , Al - Rashid , also known as " Tafiletta " . The engraver Wenceslaus Hollar formed part of the expedition on his own request to finish drawings of Tangier he had started when he accompanied Howard ' s grandfather on a similar mission in 1636 . The meeting with Mulay Rashid was delayed for eleven months and ended up not taking place at all ; then , according to Hollar , Howard obtained a " Letter of Security " from Mulay Rashid and " purposd himself " to " go by Land , and the Ship by Sea to Salee " from where they " set Sail on Wednesday the eighth of the said Month at two a clock in the morning " . Prelude . The " Mary Rose " was accompanied by three ships : a small narrow - sterned ship of shallow draught or pink , the two - masted " Roe " ketch which had come from England with her , and a Hamburg merchantman , called the " Hamborough frigate . " They passed Asilah that evening . After midnight , they overtook a large flyboat of 300 tons , loaded with timber , tobacco , salt , and malt . This proved to be the " King David " , an English trader bound from New England to Cádiz . Off Cape St . Vincent , she had been captured by a party of Algerines or Barbary pirates , and the captain and crew were taken as slaves . When the " Mary Rose " and convoy found her , she carried a prize - crew of 22 Algerines , as well as one Russian and two Englishmen ; Hollar writes that " we transported them aboard [ the " Mary Rose " ] , and sent other men aboard her . " An English prize - crew was sent aboard , and the " King David " was to follow the convoy to Salé . However , the recaptured ship was both poorly built for speed and laden with cargo , and the " Mary Rose " was obliged to tow her , retarding the convoy ' s progress . Consequently , they did not arrive at Salé until the 11th , where they met a two - masted brigantine from Tangier with Englishmen aboard . This vessel told them that there was an insurrection in progress and that they could not land , and recommended that they try to pick up some of the people ashore . The convoy remained there until the 13th , though failing to bring anyone aboard as they were detained in Salé . A storm forced them to leave the shore , towing the brigantine astern . The storm continued for the next few days , during which , says Hollar , the " Mary Rose " took on the brigantine ' s crew and passengers and let her go . On the 15th they sighted Rota , but were unable to put in because of the contrary wind . On the 17th the convoy was joined by two merchantmen , one French and one Scottish , bound from the Canary Islands to Cádiz . Several times during these few days the " Mary Rose " saw two Algerine men of war ; these merchantmen had also seen the men of war and come to the convoy for protection . Battle . At dawn on the 18th , the " Mary Rose " sighted seven Algerine men of war . The " Mary Rose " immediately prepared for action , clearing the decks in order to work the guns , taking on the prize - crew of the " King David " and abandoning her to be driven by the wind , and throwing overboard anything that might prove a hindrance . The Algerine ships passed near noon ; one of the prisoners , a Dutchman , identified them as the " Golden Lion " , " Orange Tree " , " Half Moon " , " Seven Stars " , " White Horse " , " Blewhart " , and " Rose Leaf " . The " Half Moon " , not built for speed and also loaded down with men , fell behind , and the others sent two boats to tow her ; Admiral Kempthorne sent out a boat to intercept theirs , but the Algerines sent out another boat , well - armed , and Kempthorne recalled the English boat . The Algerine ships stood close together , and around 3 : 00 six of them attacked the " Mary Rose " , while the " Rose Leaf " chased the abandoned " King David " . Hollar described " a hot Service , and much harm done on both sides , " until night fell and the Algerine ships retired . Early the next morning the two groups engaged again . The Algerines approached in a line from the southeast : the " Half Moon " was first , and she and subsequent ships fired , both with broadsides from the ships ' guns and with small - arms , on the " Mary Rose " before steering away to the northeast . According to Hollar ' s account , " Mary Rose " replied firing every other gun , in order to be able to keep up a consistent fire on all the approaching ships . " Golden Lion " , the Algerine flagship , was in the rear , intending to board . However , the " Mary Rose " hit her hull below the waterline with one shot and destroyed her mainsail with another , and she , along with the other Algerines , retreated . During the battle , the French and Scottish merchantmen escaped ; a number of Jews and Armenians aboard the pink , according to Hollar , attempted to take the ship over to the Algerines , but the latter mistook it for a fire ship sent by the English to destroy them , and the attempt failed when the squadron retreated . The English casualties were twelve killed and eighteen wounded ; according to Owen Hurst , the " Mary Rose " had all three masts damaged , and her mainmast , foremast , and both topmast yards disabled . Aftermath . The " Mary Rose " arrived in Cádiz on the 20th . Kempthorne sold the 22 Algerine prisoners as slaves ; two were bought by the English consul there . The " Mary Rose " returned to England in April 1670 with a thirty - ship convoy of Mediterranean trade and a cargo of silver , whereupon Kempthorne was knighted for " his very great valour and conduct shown against the pirates of Algiers . " " King David " , which had been taken by the " Rose Leaf " , was recaptured by Sir Thomas Allin , who ordered her to be sold with her cargo as a prize at Malaga ; the original owners successfully petitioned to have them restored . In July 1670 , Charles II ordered that money earned from selling Moorish prisoners should henceforth be put into a fund for the redemption of Englishmen taken as slaves , beginning with " King David " ' s crew , including master Edward Clements and supercargo Jeremiah Armiger , who had put up three days ' resistance before being captured . Sailors who had fought well were also to be given preference in the future . Arts . Hollar , who reportedly sat on deck sketching during the action , later produced , which was included in Ogilby ' s 1670 " Africa " . The picture shows the Algerine line engaging the " Mary Rose " and the " Roe " , while " Rose Leaf " chases " King David " to the southeast , the French merchantman escapes to the northwest , and the other merchantmen shelter behind the " Mary Rose " . Willem van de Velde the Younger soon after made his own drawing of the battle , based on Hollar ' s . A van de Velde oil painting based on Hollar ' s etching of the " Mary Rose " engagement is in the Royal Collection , where it has been held at least since 1687 , and is currently ( 2013 ) on public display in the Queen ’ s Private Dining Room at Hampton Court Royal Palace . A copy with the monogram of Adriaen van Diest inscribed on the reverse was with the Leger Galleries in London in 1973 , and another is recorded as being in the collection at Castle Howard , North Yorkshire , England . This picture was possibly commissioned during Kempthorne ' s lifetime or by his family : alterations from the original were made to the flags in order to correct them . A painting signed by Peter Monamy in the National Maritime Museum has an inscription stating that it depicts this battle . It is more likely , however , that it was intended to depict a similar battle fought in 1681 by Morgan Kempthorne , John Kempthorne ' s son , in the " Kingfisher " .