Battle of the Strait of Gibraltar ( 1590 ) The First Battle of the Strait of Gibraltar was a naval engagement that took place on 24 April 1590 during the Anglo - Spanish War . Ten English armed merchant vessels of the Levant Company were met and intercepted by twelve Spanish galley s under Pedro de Acuña in the service of Spain in the region of the Gibraltar Straits . English sources claim that the English were able to repel the galleys inflicting heavy losses after a six hour fight , while Spanish sources show the battle as indecisive . Background . The Levant company had been trading in the Mediterranean since 1580 after a successful petition to Queen Elizabeth I . They had established " factories " in Aleppo and Constantinople , Alexandria and Smyrna . The war with Spain in 1585 had started and as a result the company armed their ships as part of an investment by the English crown and sailed in convoy for their mutual protection . This proved successful as in July 1586 off Pantelleria island , five ships of the company managed to repel eleven Spanish galleys . After this victory the company ' s military strategy remained from that day . In mid April 1590 ten ships of the company , some freighted for Venice , for Constantinople and to other parts of the Mediterranean met on their homeward course within the Straits of Gibraltar having escaped all danger thus far . As soon as they were all together they came into a tight convoy formation as they approached the Spanish - held waters . Two Flemish ships on their way back from the Mediterranean also joined them in convoy , partly for protection against pirates . The lead ship " Salomon " whose captain Benedict Barnham was in charge followed by second in command John Watts of the " Margeret and John " , followed with the rest ; Thomas Cordell ' s " Centurion " , " Minion " , " Viloet " , " Samual " , " Elizabeth " , " Ascension " and finally the " Richard " . On the 24th April as they approached the Straits of Gibraltar twelve tall galleys were seen and soon the ships under orders from Barnham were told to prepare hastily for action . English sources assert that the galleys were under the command of Andrea Doria ' s great - nephew Giovanni Andrea Doria . , while Spanish official data show that the actual commander of the Spanish squadron was don Pedro de Acuña , although they acknowledge a previous unsuccessful attempt of Doria against an English convoy . Engagement . As the galleys approached , " Salomon " fired off a number of warning shots but without success . The galleys then formed out of line , becoming an arrowhead formation . As this was happening , " Salomon " soon targeted the lead ship and began to find its target . The lead galleys sheared away almost violently with the first suffering damage that ultimately forced it to withdraw . Soon the other English ships began to fire ; " Minion " and " Margaret and John " shielded the lighter armed vessels . " Centurion " , the biggest ship , was held back in reserve . Within the first hour of action , one of the Flemish ships which was nearby immediately sailed to the Spanish galleys and surrendered , which gave some distraction for a while . The other Flemish ship was boarded by sailors from the " Violet " and dissuaded from surrendering . The galleys however continued to attack the English ships in attempts to grapple and board ; a usual Spanish tactic on the sea at the time . However , after nearly three hours , the Spanish were kept at bay and each galley that attempted to get close was repelled until the next one came along trying to get close enough to grapple . " Salomon " soon began to run out of powder as did " Margaret and John " . " Centurion " soon came up along with " Elizabeth " which so far had fired off very little . Now with both ships in action , " Centurion " ' s fire soon began to tell and the Spanish galleys were not getting anywhere near enough to board . Eventually after nearly six hours of fighting , the last of the Spanish galleys had been repelled with some in a sinking state . Doria ' s galleys had all suffered much damage and losses in galley slaves , soldiers and sailors had been heavy . With this in mind , he had no choice but to go into port and so withdrew immediately to Algeciras after temporarily shadowing the English ships . Spanish views on the battle differ greatly from the English point of view . The Spanish naval historian and captain Cesáreo Fernández Duro points that the Levant Company ships only sailed through the strait in rough seas , which prevented the Spanish galleys from boarding them , and also from using their main gun . Fernández Duro also notes that most the English , and some French authors , had mistaken the Spanish galleys ' failure to approach the English ships with a success of the company ' s vessels in repelling the galleys with cannon fire . Aftermath . The English ships except in the rigging and masts had sustained only little damage , since the Spanish aim was to board and overpower . None of this was achieved as the English fire or the rough sea , depending on sources , had been strong enough not to allow the Spanish galleys into grappling position . The English casualties were only light at best but soon the wind had died down and therefore were becalmed just before Gibraltar itself . They were in desperate need of shot and powder as most of the bigger ships were close to being out of ammunition by the end of the action . The English therefore had no alternative but to tow their vessels into the nearest friendly harbor , that being Tétouan on the Barbary coast . Once there fresh supplies were bought in and the inhabitants treated them favorably . News soon trickled in of the repulse of the galleys and the governor extended gifts upon them and granted them stay for as long as they wanted . After around four days and with the wind now in their favor , the English sailed off without incident ; the Spanish in the harbor of Algeciras unable to intercept them because of their severe damage or the rough sea . The English soon arrived off the coast of England without further hindrance . In the following months the Levant Company ships clashed with varying results against Spanish galleys . On August Acuña sank one ship and took another , while in 1591 an English convoy would meet another fleet of Spanish galleys under Doria in the same area and with the same outcome .