Battle of Barcelona The Naval battle of Barcelona was a naval engagement of the Franco - Habsburg War fought off Barcelona from 29 June to 3 July 1642 between a Spanish fleet commanded by Juan Alonso Idiáquez , Duke of Ciudad Real , and a French fleet under Jean Armand de Maillé - Brézé , Duc de Fronsac . < br > In a three - day battle , Brézé defeated the Spanish fleet , which was attempting to relieve some Spanish garrisons isolated along the Catalan coast , and forced the Duke of Ciudad Real to retreat to Majorca for repairs . As usual in most of the battles involving Maillé - Brézé , the French fleet made an extensive use of her fireships . This time , however , a large French vice - flagship , the " Galion - de - Guise " , fell victim to one of his own fireships and went down enveloped in flames . The victory , in any case , was for the French fleet , and its main long - term effect was the fall of Perpignan in hands of the Franco - Catalan army . Background . The outbreak in 1640 of the Reapers ' War , or the Catalan Uprising against the Spanish Monarchy , left most of the Principality in hands of the rebels and their French allies by mid - 1641 . The Spanish forces were restricted to the area around Tarragona and Tortosa in the south and the County of Roussillon in the north , besides a series of isolated ports along the coast . The French viceroy of Catalonia , Philippe de La Mothe - Houdancourt , attempted to conquer Tarragona between May and August , but failed , as a French blockading fleet under Henri d ' Escoubleau de Sourdis was not big enough to prevent the entrance into Tarragona of a large Spanish relief convoy . Sourdis had been never very enthusiastic of blockading Tarragona and preferred to focus all the efforts in capturing Collioure to starve the Spanish army in Perpignan . Cardinal Richelieu replaced him with his nephew Jean Armand de Maillé - Brézé , but for the 1642 campaign he followed his plans and committed most of his forces to conquer Rousillon . French preparations . Marshall Charles de La Porte gained Collioure on 13 April and , together with Frederick Schomberg , laid siege to Perpignan . The French fleet would blockade the coast between Tarragona and Collioure , and battle with the Spanish fleet if necessary . The fleets of Ponant and Levant were concentrated at Barcelona . The squadron of Brest , composed of 21 sailing vessels , 2 fluyt s and 6 fireships , doubled the Cabo de Gata on 10 June . The Toulon squadron , of 19 sailing vessels , 4 fluyts and 6 fireships under the Chevalier de Cangé , arrived to Barcelona on 8 May . The " flotte des galères " led by the bailli de Forbin , composed of 25 units , arrived on 21 June . The fleet was completed with a small squadron under Abraham Duquesne which had been left to cruise off the Catalan coast , and ten English and Dutch chartered vessels , thus increasing its strength to nearly 60 ships . After a war council was held aboard the fleet on 22 June , Maillé - Brézé put his ships on sail in order to intercept a Spanish fleet reportedly seen at the height of Tarragona . Spanish preparations . Spanish naval officials tried to have ready on time the Spanish fleet to avoid the conjunction of the French Levant and Ponant fleets , but failed , and therefore focused on collecting as many ships as possible for a relief fleet that was supposed to relieve the maritime garrisons isolated along the coast , and specifically the much tightened Rousillon . The maritime relief was the only way , as a land army organized to cross the country till Perpignan had been defeated by La Mothe - Houdancourt at the Battle of Montmeló and the subsequent Battle of La Granada , in which Count Pedro Antonio de Aragón , his lieutenant Gerolamo Caracciolo and the entire force , of some 3 , 500 men , were made prisoners . In view of the defeat , the whole Castile was put on the warpath . Foreign and private ships were seized , silver from individuals was melted to mint coins to pay troops , and soon Cádiz was full of soldiers and seamen come from all over the country . The Duke of Ciudad Real , a man devoid of experience in naval fighting , was the chief of the fleet . He was seconded by Admiral General Sancho de Urdanivia . The force consisted of 31 galleons or large sailing vessels , 2 frigates , 3 pataches , 6 fireships , a convoy of tartane s , and 35 " barcos longos " , a newly invented sort of counter - fireship . The Battle . The Spanish fleet arrived off Barcelona on June 29 around 15 : 00h , and despite the late hour , the rough seas and not being complete , they immediately attacked the French . The battle raged until sunset . The Spanish tried to board some French ships , but without success . The French launched one fireship and the Spanish three , but also without any effect . The next day , the slower Spanish galleys had reached Barcelona , and the complete Spanish fleet attacked again . Now the " Magdalena " and some smaller Spanish ships were able to isolate the large French " Galion - de - Guise " , and threatened to board the ship . The French launched a fireship against the " Magdalena " , but the Spanish crew was able to deviate the fireship towards the " Guise " which caught fire . The " Guise " went up in flames , together with its commander Vice Admiral Hercule de Conigan de Cangé , 500 French out of a total crew of 540 , and 30 Spaniards . On July 3 , the battle resumed , but now the French artillery prevailed and several Spanish ships were seriously damaged . The Duke of Ciudad Real was forced to retreat and the victory was for the French . Sources . " This article incorporates text translated from the as of 11 November 2012 " .