Action of 28 November 1751 The Action of 28 November 1751 was a naval engagement of the Spanish - Algerian conflict , fought off Cape St Vincent between a squadron of two Spanish ships of the line under Captain Pedro Fitz - James Stuart and an Algerian squadron of equal strength . Captain Pedro Fitz - James Stuart ' s ships pursued one of the Algerian privateers and managed to force it to surrender it after a fierce exchange of fire . The ship , badly damaged , had to be scuttled , but its surviving crew and 50 Christian slaves were rescued and taken aboard Stuart ' s flagship . Background . In middle of the general peace obtained by the signature of the Treaty of Aix - la - Chapelle , Marquis of Ensenada ordered to assemble two naval divisions with the aim of fight the Barbary corsairs and to prevent the seamen of the Spanish fleet remain inactive . Both divisions were dispatched to patrol the Barbary coast , where galliots and other minor vessels were frequently captured , but no significant engagement took place before November of 1751 . Battle . On 28 November , while cruising off Cape St . Vincent in command of the 60 - gun ships of the line " Dragón " and " América " , Captain Pedro Fitz - James Stuart sighted two corsairs owned by the Regency of Algiers 52 leagues of the Cape . They were the 60 - gun " Danzik " , flagship of the Algerian fleet , and the 54 - gun " Castillo Nuevo " , being the first one under Arraez Mohammed Chirif . Stuart approached to inspect them at 5 p . m . Then the " Danzik " raised the Algerian colors and opened fire against his flagship , the " Dragón " , but always trying to avoid the action by sailing toward the southwest . The " Castillo Nuevo " took the opportunity to flee . The " Danzik " was pursued for an entire day , succeeding Chirif in avoid combat taking advantage of the windward , which prevented the Spanish ships open the ports of their gundecks . However , she suffered damage to her rigging and sails , just as the " Dragón " . For a moment , she strike her colors , but Chirif , obliged by his crew , ordered it to be hoisted again and resumed the action until the sunset , when both himself and Stuart declined to continue fighting due to rough sea . The next day the Spanish attacked again , inflicting heavy losses to the " Danzik " and causing irreparable damage to the ship . The loss on the Spanish side was negligible and amounted to be only 3 men killed and 25 wounded , compared to 194 killed and about 90 wounded on the Algerian ship , which , severely damaged , had to be set on fire after being transferred aboard Stuart ' s flagship 320 prisoners among who were Chirif , wounded during the battle , and 50 rescued Christian slaves , mostly Dutch . Aftermath . Despite this defeat and some others such as the sinking of 3 xebecs off Benidorm or the capture of the " Castillo Nuevo " seven years later , the Barbary corsairs continued threatening the commercial traffic in the Mediterranean until 1786 , when , after two successful Spanish expeditions under Antonio Barceló which bombarded Algiers inflicting heavy damage , the Dey of Algiers agreed to interrupt the actions of their privateers , being imitated shortly after by the Dey of Tunis .