Battle of Lake Maracaibo The Battle of Lake Maracaibo also known as the " Naval Battle of the Lake " was fought on 24 July 1823 on Venezuela ' s Lake Maracaibo between Admiral José Prudencio Padilla and royalist Captain Ángel Laborde . The battle was won by the republican forces , and was the last battle of the Venezuelan War of Independence and the larger Spanish American wars of independence . The ships belonged to the forces of Gran Colombia led by Simón Bolívar . The Battle of Carabobo of 1821 is usually seen in the historiography as the culminating battle for Venezuelan independence . Many historians point out that if the Battle of Lake Maracaibo had been a victory for the royalist forces , the Spanish Crown might have set a new front in Western Venezuela from which to attack the republican forces stationed in Venezuela . As a result of the loss , the Spanish Crown did not send any new regiments to Venezuela , and finally accepted Venezuelan independence as a result of this second decisive patriot victory , although it did not formally recognize the new nation for more than a decade afterward . 24 July is a regional holiday of Zulia State . Battle . During this Naval Battle , the republican squadron was led by Admiral José Prudencio Padilla against the Royalist forces commanded by Ángel Laborde . After three brief encounters with the Spanish squadron , the republican squadron went to Moporo port , where they spent the first half of July without any major activities until 17 July . When the commander Laborde sent to Padilla an intimation and this rejected it , so the following days were spent in feverish war , where the two commanders kept their ships , concentrating supplies , and training their crews in order to combat . On 23 July during the afternoon the Royalists went to the west coast of the lake with Captain Chico and anchored between this site and Bella Vista , north of Maracaibo , being in line of battle , but the Republicans remained at sail until the evening and ended up going to Los Puertos de Altagracia , and all the ships in a parallel line to the East Coast , moving their forces to Punta de Piedra . On the morning of 24 July , the Republican boat commanders were called to the " Independent " brig where Admiral Padilla gave final instructions to the commanders , making some changes and - still not satisfied - at 10 : 30 , went in person to board the whole squadron , in order to rally their endowments and encourage in an effective manner so that when the time to attack the Royalists , with the utmost boldness and enthusiasm . At 10 : 40 the wind veered to the northwest and 10 minutes after the signal was prepared to sail , but having loosened the south calling , reserved the decision to raise anchor until it affirmed the breeze where it was favorable , despite all invited to attack the Royalist squadron was anchored at its head in a line parallel to the coast and very close to it . At 14 : 00 , the commander ordered the subtle forces and continue to weigh on Royalist boats in its class , at 14 : 20 , made the signal to sail , and minutes later , to form the front line to attack simultaneously all enemy ships , observing movements that were agreed . As the brig " Mars " was located on the windward side and the " Independent " to leeward , were providing the ride so that it is perfectly formed and follow the line of battle for the implementation of the plan that Padilla had been proposed . The Republicans ships moved quickly over the Royalist squadron who remained anchored waiting for the attack , the south wing of the squad carrying the Admiral Padilla and the north wing was commanded by Captain Nicholas Joly , cutting off the retreat to the bay . At 15 : 04 , they placed the sign of approaching the opponent , however raised have been answered by all vessels , to show thereby that nothing remained to be done . At 15 : 45 , Royalist fleet squadrons opened fire on the Patriots , but the square of the Great Colombia , continued to advance without firing a shot , until being broken by the cannon fire and musketry . When broken bowsprits the " Independent " brig , threw themselves over the " San Carlos " , and began the approach , phase which decided the victory for Republicans . As a result of the Patriot attack , many Royalist and other vessels were destroyed and captured . Royalists , in the most dire situation , strung cables and tried to escape , but failed in the attempt , because their larger vessels were captured . Most of the crew of the " San Carlos " jumped into the water and the same fate befell the other ships , except the brig - schooner " Esperanza " , which was destroyed by an explosion . Ultimately , only three schooners escaped . At days end , Admiral Padilla ordered his squad to rest at the location where they had the combat . Later he went to the Port of Altagracia to repair the damage to their ships . Republican losses included 8 officers and 36 crew killed , with 14 officers and 150 crew wounded . Royalist casualties were higher , and 69 officers and 368 soldiers and sailors were taken prisoner by the Republicans . After two hours of fierce battle , victory was obtained , which paved the way for negotiations with the Captain General of Venezuela , who , on 3 August , was forced to hand over the rest of the Spanish ships , The City of Maracaibo , The Fort at San Carlos , The Fort at San Felipe in Puerto Cabello , and all other sites occupied by the Spanish . The Spanish finally evacuated on the 5th and left Venezuelan territory .