Battle of the Strait of Gibraltar (1590)

Battle of the Strait of Gibraltar (1590)
Part of the Anglo–Spanish War
Date24 April 1590
Location
Off Straits of Gibraltar, Spain
Result English victory[1][2]
Belligerents
 Spain

England England

  • Levant Company
Commanders and leaders
Spain Pedro de Acuña[3] England Benedict Barnham
Strength
12 galleys 10 armed merchant vessels
Casualties and losses
Many galleys severely damaged,
Heavy casualties [4]		 Light

The First Battle of the Strait of Gibraltar was a naval engagement that took place on 24 April 1590 during the Anglo-Spanish War. Ten English armed merchant vessels of the Levant Company were met and intercepted by twelve Spanish galleys under Pedro de Acuña in the service of Spain in the region of the Gibraltar Straits. English sources claim that the English were able to repel the galleys inflicting heavy losses after a six-hour fight,[5][6] while Spanish sources show the battle as indecisive.[7]

  1. ^ Bicheno p.295
  2. ^ Clowes p.494
  3. ^ Fernández Duro, Cesáreo: Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y de Aragón. Vol. III. Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, p. 77.
  4. ^ Taylor & Francis, pg.221-3 Elizabethan Adventures Upon the Spanish Main
  5. ^ Corbett pg. 364 Drake and the Tudor Navy: With a History of the Rise of England as a Maritime Power, Volume 2
  6. ^ Kerr p. 396-399
  7. ^ The attempt was repeated in May 1590, leaving the harbor D. Pedro de Acuña with 12 galleys, taking no prey, though he shelled over the ships that were heading west. Fernández Duro, Cesáreo: Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y de Aragón. Vol. III. Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, p. 77.