Action of 15 July 1798

Action of 15 July 1798
Part of the Mediterranean campaign during the War of the Second Coalition
Capture of the Dorothea, 15 July 1798, Thomas Whitcombe
Date 15 July 1798 Location Off Cartagena, Mediterranean Sea Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Manley Dixon	Felix O'Neil
Strength
1 ship of the line	4 frigates
Casualties and losses
2 wounded	52 killed and wounded 1 frigate captured

The action of 15 July 1798 was a minor naval battle of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought off the Spanish Mediterranean coast by the Royal Navy ship of the line HMS Lion under Captain Manley Dixon and a squadron of four Spanish Navy frigates under Commodore Don Felix O'Neil. Lion was one of several ships sent into the Western Mediterranean by Vice-Admiral Earl St Vincent, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet based at the Tagus in Portugal during the late spring of 1798. The Spanish squadron was a raiding force that had sailed from Cartagena in Murcia seven days earlier, and was intercepted while returning to its base after an unsuccessful cruise. Although together the Spanish vessels outweighed the British ship, individually they were weaker and Commodore O'Neil failed to ensure that his manoeuvres were co-ordinated. As a result, one of the frigates, Santa Dorotea, fell out of the line of battle and was attacked by Lion.

Despite ineffectual long-range gunfire towards the British ship by the remainder of the Spanish squadron, the isolated Santa Dorotea was rapidly forced to surrender, O'Neil eventually turning the other three frigates back towards Cartagena. Unopposed, Dixon was able to consolidate his prize and send it to St Vincent's fleet off Cadiz, where it was subsequently purchased into the Royal Navy. Lion remained in the Mediterranean during the year, later participating in the blockades of Malta and Alexandria. The Spanish, their seaports carefully guarded by Royal Navy squadrons, launched no further expeditions into the Mediterranean during the year.