Battle of Puerto Cabello The Battle of Puerto Cabello was fought during the War of Jenkins ' Ear on 16 April 1743 and resulted in another defeat of British forces . Background . Having failed against the Spaniards in the previous attack at La Guaira ( 2 March 1743 ) , the British forces under commodore Sir Charles Knowles were ready to sail toward a new Caribbean objective in the Spanish Main . The next one would be Puerto Cabello . Puerto Cabello was the careening port of the Royal Gipuzkoan Company of Caracas , whose ships had rendered great assistance to the Spanish navy during the war in carrying troops , arms , stores and ammunition from Spain to her colonies , and its destruction would be a severe blow both to the Company and the Spanish Government . La Guayra was as it still is ; the port of Caracas and an important shipping centre . It was believed by the Admiralty to be very weakly defended , an opinion possibly based on the report of the ships which attacked it in 1739 . HMS " Suffolk " 70 gun third - rate < br > HMS " Burford " 70 gun third - rate < br > HMS " Norwich " 50 gun fourth - rate < br > HMS " Assistance " 50 gun fourth - rate < br > HMS " Eltham " 40 gun fifth - rate < br > HMS " Scarborough " 24 gun sixth - rate < br > HMS " Lively " 20 gun sixth - rate < br > HMS " Otter " 14 gun sloop < br > HMS " Comet " 8 gun bomb vessel Battle . Knowles and his fleet arrived four miles northeast of the Spanish port of Puerto Cabello , he first sent the bomb vessel " Comet " to take up station inshore while he prepared the remainder of this expedition for an assault . Around this time the Spaniards sighted HMS " Otter " and instantly raised the alarm . The next day the 50 - gun " Norwich " , the 40 - gun " Eltham " and the 20 - gun " Lively " moved in to bombard two small Spanish batteries , one mounting fifthteen pieces and the other eight . They were positioned north of Puerto Cabello ' s main harbor castle of San Felipe . This attack was intended to wear the batteries ' defenders , after which a large force would be disembarked nearby under cover of darkness to overwhelm the isolated outposts and turn the artillery against the main Spanish keep . Knowles ' operation started well , with three warships in action they pounded the batteries until 7 : 00 P . M . , after the bombardment , 1 , 100 - 1 , 200 Britons were landed unseen under Major Lucas at 10 : 30 P . M . But , upon advancing , the troops stumbled into a 40 - man Spanish company with two small cannons and grape shot . This small company routed the British who fled back to their boats . On 28 April the three Royal Navy warships resumed their offshore bombardment to little effect . On 2 May Caracas ' s Governor Gabriel de Zuloaga arrived overland with reincorcements for the Spanish garrison , a normal complement is three companies of regulars and 300 - 400 militia . Sometime the next day , Governor de Zuloaga was wounded in the leg by British fire after inspecting the Punta Brava battery . By now , running low on ammunition and provisions , Knowles decides to attempt a general assault on 4 May . However , the wind died down before the British squadron could get under way at 1 : 00 P . M . , so the operation was postponed until 5 May . On that day , Knowles weighed anchor at 11 : 00 A . M . , prompting the Spaniards to man their defenses . HMS " Assistance " , HMS " Burford " , HMS " Suffolk " , and HMS " Norwich " were to batter San Felipe Castle while HMS " Scarborough " , " Lively " , and " Eltham " engage the batteries to the north . Another battle began shortly after 1 : 00 P . M , on 5 May , the warships anchored so close to San Felipe that only one of its guns could be suppressed . At 4 : 00 P . M . the wind rose , and de Zuloaga suspected the British would charge the harbor mouth . He therefore ordered a blockship to be scuttle d in the harbor entrance . Upon seeing the channel closing ; Knowles gave the signal to retire , two and a half hours later , only to see his formation become becalmed . The British suffered heavily before eventually fleeing out of range by 9 : 00 P . M . Aftermath . Having endured about 100 casualties during this desperate gamble , plus another 100 during previous tries , Knowles ordered his most crippled ships to make for the Borburata Keys on the morning of 7 May while continued to shell the Puerto Cabello ' s inner harbor with his lone bomb vessel . The commodore Knowles eventually offered a prisoner exchange and , after being allowed to water by the begrudging , Governor de Zuloaga , sailed away with two divisions on 11 and 13 May to Jamaica .