Battle of Capo d'Orso

40°36′N 14°36′E / 40.600°N 14.600°E / 40.600; 14.600

Battle of Capo d’Orso
Part of the War of the League of Cognac
View at Amalfi, Bay of Salerno, George Loring Brown
Date 28 April 1528 Location Gulf of Salerno, Tyrrhenian Sea Result French victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Filippino Doria Gilbert du Croq	Alfonso d'Avalos Hugo de Moncada †
Strength
8 galleys	6 galleys 3 brigantines 2 fustes 2 sailboats
Casualties and losses
500 killed	700 killed 600 captured 2 galleys sunk 1 brigantine sunk 1 fuste sunk 4 galleys captured 1 fuste captured

The Battle of Capo d'Orso, sometimes known as the Battle of Cava and the Battle of Amalfi, was a naval engagement taking place from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM on April 28 1528,^[1] during the War of the League of Cognac. A French fleet inflicted a crushing defeat on the fleet of the Kingdom of Naples under Spanish command in the Gulf of Salerno, where Spanish forces trying to break the French blockade of the city met the French fleet.

The battle gave the French complete command of the sea. Tactically, it showed the superiority of the chosen Genoese galleys over the slower and less agile Spanish ones, despite the presence aboard of a large party of veteran Spanish soldiers. As noted by a witness, Paolo Giovio, "the victory came from crafty seamanship rather than brute force".^[2]