Battle of Cape St . Vincent ( 1641 ) The Battle of Cape St Vincent of 1641 took place on 4 November 1641 between a Spanish fleet commanded by Don Juan Alonso de Idiáquez y Robles and a Dutch fleet led by Artus Gijsels during the Eighty Years ' War . Four Dutch ships were completely destroyed and the rest , seriously damaged . Seeing the tactical superiority of the Spanish fleet , the Dutch decided to retreat . The Spanish officers tried to persuade Idiáquez to pursue the enemy fleet and finish them off entirely , but he preferred to return to Cádiz . Background . In 1641 , after the outbreak of the Portuguese Restoration War , the Portuguese government , with Dutch and French help , prepared to start the offensive against Spain at sea . Dom António Telles da Silva , who had fought the Dutch in India , was designated commander of squadron of 16 ships , which along of another 30 of the Dutch Republic under Artus Gijsels , was entrusted the mission of capture and hold the Spanish towns of Cádiz and Sanlúcar . The attempts failed thanks to the fortuitous encounter that they had with 5 Dunkirkers under Judocus Peeters , who was chasing a flotilla of Algerian privateers , off Cape St . Vincent . Peeters managed to reach Cádiz without losing a single vessel and put on alert the Marquis of Ayamonte and Don Gaspar Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán , 9th Duke of Medina Sidonia . Gijsels and Telles returned to Lisbon , where Telles was replaced by Tristão de Mendonça , former Ambassador to the Dutch Republic . The Portuguese fleet then sailed with the French fleet of the Marquis de Brézé , while the Dutch fleet set sail in order to intercept and capture the Spanish West Indies Fleet between the Azores and Cape St . Vincent . It was a hasty maneuver , since the Dutch ships had orders to return to their country if the West Indies Fleet didn ' t appear before November . Battle . The Spanish squadron of Galicia , under Don Andrés de Castro , the squadron of Naples , under Don Martín Carlos de Meneos , and the galleon s of Don Pedro de Ursúa , were urgently gathered in Cádiz to intercept the Dutch fleet . The military governor of Cádiz , Don Juan Alonso de Idiáquez y Robles , Duke of Ciudad Real , was appointed commander of the fleet in substitution of the Captain General , the Duke of Maqueda , who was ill . He was a veteran soldier , having seen action in the Siege of Leucata against the French , but was unexperienced in sea battles . Gijsels fleet was sighted off Cape St . Vincent on 4 November . The Duke of Ciudad Real immediately ordered to attack the major Dutch vessels , sinking three of them , destroying another one , and causing considerable damage to the remaining . Inexplicably , when his ships were approaching the defenseless Dutch warships to board them , he stopped the attack and ordered to return to Cádiz . This conduct dissatisfied King Philip IV , who severely reprimanded , among other officers , Don Martín Carlos de Mencos , Admiral Don Pedro de Ursúa , and Captains Pedro Girón , Gaspar de Campos and Adrián Pulido . According to Dutch sources , the battle was indecisive , and broken off when the Spanish disengaged and returned to Cádiz . Dutch casualties were 100 - 200 killed and 2 ships lost , while Spanish losses were possibly 1 , 100 killed and 2 ships lost Michiel de Ruyter was present at this battle as Rear Admiral of the Dutch fleet . Aftermath . The Dutch ships under Artus Gijsels , abandoned by their Portuguese and French allies , sailed back to England to make repairs . The outcome of the battle had no impact on the course of the Portuguese revolution .