Battle of San Juan de Ulúa ( 1568 ) The Battle of San Juan de Ulúa was a battle between English privateers and Spanish forces at San Juan de Ulúa ( in modern Veracruz ) . It marked the end of the campaign carried out by an English flotilla of six ships that had systematically conducted illegal trade in the Caribbean Sea , including the slave trade , imposing it even by force . Context . The English fleet consisted of 5 ships : the Royal carrack s " Jesus of Lübeck " ( leased from Queen Elizabeth I ) under John Hawkins , the " Minion " under John Hampton , and the barques " Judith " under Hawkins ' cousin Francis Drake , " Angel " and " Swallow " . A captured Portuguese caravel joined the privateers near the coast of Ghana , where the English competed with Portuguese slave traders . The ship was renamed " Grace of God " . A seventh ship , the barque " William and John " , sailed back home before the battle , but after reaching Ireland on February 1569 , she was lost with all hands on her way back to England . Following a full year of plundering and illegal trading , Hawkins decided to anchor his ships in the port of San Juan de Ulúa on 15 September for repairs and resupply before the return voyage to England . But while they were carrying out this reprovisioning , a Spanish escort fleet under command of Don Francisco Luján also arrived in the port . Battle . Initially the English did not fear for their safety , since they had on board several hostages who had confused the English fleet for a Spanish one , and so at first arrived at an accord with viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza . The English had repeatedly broken the peace by attacking unarmed merchant shipping but at this point they believed the Spanish would respect a truce on this occasion . However , Luján had been informed of the English fleet ' s activities and , after many attempts at an accord , he launched a lightning attack on them in which the English lost 4 ships and 500 men as well as almost all of their year ' s loot , which was re - captured by the Spanish . Luján ' s fleet lost the vice - admiral ship , the galleon " Santa Clara " , which burnt and sunk inside the port . The flagship " San Pedro " , the only full - armed Spanish ship at San Juan , was also badly hit during an exchange of fire with " Minion " , which also suffered damage . The early assault and capture of the island ' s batteries — held until then by the English — by a Spanish pinnace , commanded by a captain Delgadillo , became decisive to the fate of the English fleet . " Angel " sank after a few salvoes , and " Swallow " was seized by the Spaniards soldiers manning the batteries . The French commander of the " Grace of God " , Robert Blondel , set her on fire before joining Hawkins on board the " Jesus " . Both of them , along with some members of the crew of the " Jesus " were later rescued by a pinnace after Hawkins gave the order to abandon the ship . Hawkins took command then of the " Minion " . Only the " Judith " , commanded by Drake and " Minion " escaped , whilst battle was still raging on , leaving behind them the " Jesus of Lübeck " and some members of her crew still on board . The surviving vessels sailed out when two ships on fire were driven on them by the Spanish . The Englishmen feared a fire ship attack . The " Jesus " was eventually boarded by a Spanish party who had been lurking inside a nearby hulk , the " San Salvador " , under the command of captain Juan de Ubilla . A first Spanish attempt had been beaten off by Hawkins ' crew , not before suffering some dead and injured . There are allegations that Ubilla allowed his men to loot the booty left on board the " Jesus " by Hawkins . Aftermath . During their withdrawal , the " Minion " and the " Judith " were hopelessly overcrowded , and some of their men had to be abandoned on what is now the southern coast of the United States to save on supplies for the Atlantic crossing . Hawkins left behind 110 men to surrender to the Spanish . He eventually arrived back to England with a crew of only 15 . Drake had reached Plymouth just days before , on 20 January 1569 . Only 70 or 80 sailors from the original expedition returned to England at all . While Hawkins accused the Spaniards of treason for not honouring the truce , Almanza ' s only intention was to hold his authority and the Spanish monopoly in West Indies . The battle was a clear precursor of the war that broke out between Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth I of England in 1585 .