Battle of Flores ( 1592 ) The Battle of Flores ( 1592 ) , Cruising Voyage to the Azores of 1592 , or the Capture of the Madre de Deus was a series of naval engagements that took place from the 20th of May till the 19th of August 1592 during the Anglo - Spanish War . The battle was part of an expedition by an English fleet led by initially Walter Raleigh then Martin Frobisher and John Burrough . The expedition involved the capture of a number of Portuguese and Spanish ships including the large Portuguese Carrack " Madre de Deus " which was captured after a long naval battle off Flores island . The expedition , particularly the capture of the great carrack was a huge success financially and militarily . The rich cargo on board the carrack was subject to mass theft when it arrived in Dartmouth , England and subsequent arguments of share . The expedition would have huge consequences for the English not just financially but also on the future of English exploration . Background . By virtue of the Iberian Union , the Anglo - Portuguese Treaty of 1373 was in abeyance , and as the Anglo – Spanish War was still ongoing , Portuguese shipping was a fair target for the Royal Navy . Sir Walter Raleigh having only been released from the Tower received a commission by Queen Elizabeth I for an expedition to the West Indies . A naval squadron was fitted out by him numbering sixteen ships of which two , the " Garland " and " Foresight " belonged to the Queen . Expedition . The expedition was a private venture much like the Drake - Norris expedition with only some assistance and subsidies coming direct from the crown . Its objective was to pillage any Spanish and Portuguese ships within the Atlantic , off the Spanish coast or the Caribbean and for the venture to make a profit of which the Queen would receive a large sum . Sir John Burrough as vice - admiral was to command the fleet and was joined in commission with Sir Martin Frobisher with his experienced knowledge of maritime affairs . George Clifford , the Earl of Cumberland had a large stake in the expedition ; the ship " Dainty " ( owned by John Hawkins under command of John Norton as well as many of the support ships that were with the fleet belonged to him . The fleet included many famous names of the day William Monson , Robert Crosse captain of the " Foresight " , Samuel Purchas , Richard Hawkins and Christopher Newport ( who lost his arm fighting the Spaniards in the Caribbean in 1590 ) captain of the " Golden Dragon " . The expedition was established at Dartmouth setting sail on 6 May 1592 after a number of delays due to bad weather and this meant heading to the West Indies was put on hold as supplies had already been used . Instead the fleet intended to head towards the Azores where it could intercept a Spanish plate fleet or Portuguese Carracks heading from the East Indies . Initially Sir Walter Raleigh was in command but on the following day , 7 May the fleet was overtaken by Sir Martin Frobisher in the pinnace " Disdain " . Raleigh was given letters written from the Queen ordering his recall to England so that he could be retained there and as a result relinquished his command in favour of Frobisher . On the 11th May a storm struck just off Cape Finisterre scattering the majority of the fleet ; three small ships were sunk and " Garland " very nearly foundered . The fleet nearing Cape St Vincent would split into two sections as ordered by Raleigh , one under John Burrough was to head to the Azores to lay in wait for Spanish and Portuguese ships . The other under Sir Martin Frobisher in " Garland " with George Clifford were to cruise off Cape St . Vincent with the strategy of keeping the Spanish fleet to remain on their own coast . First Engagements . As the fleet sailed further South by the end of May they came across the " Santa Clara " just off Cape St . Vincent ; an armed Spanish galleon of 600 tons . The English captured the ship after some heavy resistance , taking whatever goods the Spanish had failed to retrieve from her burnt - out hull . She was carrying a large amount of ironware valued at £7000 and was sailing to Sanlúcar de Barrameda where further freight was destined for the West Indies . With the capture , the fleet separated leaving the prize and goods in the hands of Frobisher and Clifford . As the fleet headed further South from the Cape in early June , Burrough in the " Roebuck " took a Spanish flyboat s after a long chase which brought him near the Spanish coast and the master gave information , that a great fleet was prepared at Cadiz and Sanlúcar . Having received notice that Sir Walter Raleigh was fitted out with a strong force for the West Indies , Philip II of Spain had provided a large fleet to oppose him but at the same time to escort the imminent arrival of the rich East India carracks back to port . Don Alonso de Bazán , brother to the Marquis of Santa Cruz and Captain General of the Armada , was to pursue the fleet of Raleigh and intercept him . As Burrough ' s men were burning the flyboat , part of the Spanish fleet was spotted and Burrough having rejoined his own fleet soon sailed to the Azores subsequently losing sight of them . Meanwhile further North off Portugal Frobisher with his position becoming untenable captured a prize fresh from Brazil laden with sugar heading to Lisbon on the 18th of June and a few days later a Spanish caravel . With this prize Frobisher ' s separated expedition headed back to England from Cape St . Vincent having also missed de Bazán ' s fleet sailing further South to them . Battle . Burrough ' s ships did not to wait long before the scout ships spotted a large vessel coming their way near Corvo Island on the 25th of June . Santa Cruz . The vessel was the Portuguese carrack - the " Santa Cruz " of 800 tons ; which was pursued by three of Cumberland ' s owned ships . A storm arrived and forced the English away from shore but not the " Santa Clara " which was beached on the coast of Corvo . The Portuguese who had disembarked then set up entrenchments nearby once the storm had passed the following morning , taking off the cargo and burning the vessel . Burrough immediately dispatched 100 soldiers who waded ashore and having easily dispersed those who guarded the shore , after some resistance the site was captured with the Portuguese fleeing . The precious cargo burnt inside the ship although some was salvaged by the English . Prisoners were taken including the ships purser and two foreign gunners and under threat of torture , they then confessed that within fifteen days three other carracks would arrive at the same island . There were five carracks in the fleet having departed from Goa and headed for Lisbon ; as well as the " Santa Clara " , the " Buen Jesus admiral " , " Madre de Dios " , " San Bernardo " , and " San Christophoro " . The " Madre de Deus " was the largest a thirty - two gun of 1 , 600 tons , one of the greatest belonging to what was the crown of Portugal and one of the largest ships ever built . With the news of the imminent arrival of the carracks , the English ships waited and raided the villages on Corvo for supplies . For the month of July each English ship was spaced about six miles apart in an axis that was South and North . From the Southern flank near Flores Island , the ships were lined up as followed ; " Dainty " , " Golden Dragon " , " Roebuck " , " Tiger " , " Sampson " , " Prudence " and " Foresight " . The Spanish fleet which had been sighted briefly seemed no longer a threat ; De Bazan had made major miscalculation in that by disobeying orders and heading further West , the English had reached the area of interception first . Madre De Deus . On August 3 " Dainty " sighted a large ship heading directly towards them and as it drew nearer the size of the ship was suddenly realized . The massive carrack was far larger than the " Santa Cruz " and was three times the size of England ' s biggest ship . The " Madre de Dios " was attacked by " Dainty " , which as it approached was totally dwarfed by the huge carrack . Around midday Newport ' s " Golden Dragon " followed by " Roebuck " ; more substantial ships than " Dainty " but still only a fraction of the size of the " Madre " came in to the attack . These were by followed by two hours intervals whereby they were joined by the Queen ' s owned " Foresight " and " Prudence " in the evening with the aim to weaken the defences so a boarding party could follow . In the action the smaller vulnerable " Dainty " had her foremast shot away and then was out of the battle for five hours . The English hoped to avoid sinking the ship and also to prevent her from running aground as had been done with " Santa Clara " , in addition crews were praying for good weather . The damage on the " Madre de Dios " defences was becoming serious with her bow rigging all but disabled Burrough sent the " Roebuck " which then crashed into the " Madre de Dios " followed by " Foresight " with both being directly under the main guns . Then the assault was made by boarding in the dark at 10 pm - " Golden Dragon " , " Sampson " and " Tiger " and the repaired " Dainty " came up in support and with the numbers soon adding the English took the ship after a bloody battle most of which involved hand to hand combat . The decks of the " Madre De Dios " were bloody and strewn with bodies ; especially around the helm . The carrack was very nearly destroyed when a cabin which was full of cartridges was set on fire and only quick action saved the ship . Burrough spared Captain Fernão de Mendonça and the rest of the wounded , sending them ashore to the Azores . Burrough was trying to keep his own ship the " Roebuck " afloat as it had sustained damage when it crashed into the " Madre " and in the process Cumberland ' s men started pillaging the carrack . Only when Burrough came aboard and claimed the prize in the name of the Queen did any pillaging stop ; any sailor was stripped of ' stolen ' goods , however this proved only temporary . The carrack was quickly repaired , heavily guarded by all ships and the expedition set sail back for England De Bazan now closed in on the English but he was too late , for a hundred leagues he pursued the English but in vain and returned to Spain having missed such an opportunity . The fleet reached the English channel in early September without incident . Aftermath . As the ship sailed back to England Burrough produced an inventory - the produced report mentions ; " Gods great favor towards our nation , who by putting this purchase into our hands hath manifestly discovered those secret trades & Indian riches , which hitherto lay strangely hidden , and cunningly concealed from us " . Among these riches were chests filled with jewels and pearls , gold and silver coins , ambergris , rolls of the highest - quality cloth , fine tapestries , 425 tons of pepper , 45 tons of clove s , 35 tons of cinnamon , 3 tons of mace and 3 of nutmeg , 2 . 5 tons of benjamin ( a highly aromatic balsamic resin used for perfumes and medicines ) , 25 tons of cochineal and 15 tons of ebony . There was also a rutter and a document , printed at Macau in 1590 , containing valuable information on the China and Japan trade ; Hakluyt observes that it was " enclosed in a case of sweet Cedar wood , and lapped up almost an hundredfold in fine Calicut - cloth , as though it had been some incomparable jewel " . The ship entered Dartmouth harbor on September 7 , towering over the other ships and the town ' s small houses as it sailed by . The only vessel guarding it being the " Roebuck " as the other vessels had slipped off to sell of some of the riches in Portsmouth . Nothing like it had ever been seen in England - the whole frame , the extreme length , from the beak head to the stern was 165 feet long . The breadth at the broadest deck , was just over 46 feet . Her draft of water was twenty six feet at her arrival in Dartmouth . She contained several decks ; one main orlop , three main decks , one forecastle , and a spar deck of two floors each . The length of the keel was 100 feet , of the main - mast was 121 feet , and its circumference at the partners was just over ten feet . The main - yard was 106 feet long . Mass Theft . Seeing this huge vessel , pandemonium broke lose amongst the townspeople . " Madre de Deus " attracted all manner of traders , dealers , cutpurses and thieves from miles around , and even from as far as London and beyond ; they visited the floating castle and sought out drunken sailors in taverns and pubs , buying , stealing , pinching and fighting for the takings . Local fishermen as well would constantly venture aboard and back to shore , further depleting the cargo . English law at the time provided that a large share of the loot was owed to the sovereign , and when Queen Elizabeth disocvered the true extent of the theft , she sent Sir Walter Raleigh to reclaim her money and punish the looters . Sir Walter swore , " If I meet any of them coming up , if it be upon the wildest heath in all the way , I mean to strip them as naked as they were ever born , for Her Majesty has been robbed and that of the most rare things . " By the time Raleigh had restored order , a cargo estimated at half a million pounds ( nearly half the size of England ' s treasury and perhaps the second - largest treasure ever after the Ransom of Atahualpa ) had been reduced to £140 , 000 . Still , ten freighters were needed to carry the treasure around the coast and up the River Thames to London . In all the expedition as a whole yielded Elizabeth a 2000 % return on her investment . Both Burrough and Clifford however were disappointed in what they were given and the share in the rich prize was angrily contested with a number of investors . Firstly for Cumberland it was legally decided against , to whom , as special compensation , the queen allotted a sum in consideration of his money venture . For Burrough there was no compensation and bitter quarrels continued in which he would eventually be killed in a duel two years later . Consequences . Alonso de Bazan , having a greater fleet and failing to intercept any English ship and suffering the loss of two large carracks was disgraced by the king of Spain for his negligence . As for the English practical lessons were learned , firstly the fleet wound not divide itself as had been done before capturing the " Madre de Deus " making more of an effective force . Secondly as some years later , when a rich Spanish or Portuguese ship was captured and brought into the Thames for unloading , the Dockers were made to dress in " suits of canvas doublet without pockets " . The foretaste of the riches of the East galvanized English interest in the region in particular being the " Madre de Deus ' s " rutter from Macau and was a forerunner to voyages that would end up establishing the East India Company in 1600 . As a result by 1603 the newly formed company itself would end up with a trading factory at Bantam .