Battle of Albrolhos
Encyclopedia
The naval Battle of the Albrolhos took place on 10 August 1631 off the coast of Bahía, Brazil, during the Eighty Years' War. A joint Spanish-Portuguese fleet under Admiral Oquendo defeated the Dutch after a six hour naval battle.
Admiral Oquendo left Lisbon
with a fleet of about 20 men-of-war. He carried reinforcements to Paraíba
, Pernambuco
and Bahia
. On his way back to Portugal, he was to convoy ships loaded with sugar. So as to allow the Dutch extra time to get ready, he headed first for Bahia. Once they learned of his coming, the Dutch sent a fleet commanded by Adrian Pater in the same direction. Finally, on September 12, the two fleets met around the cays.
This force was protecting ten unarmed Brazil
ian caravels bearing 1,200 troops under the Neapolitan-born Cmdr. Giovanni Vincenzo de San Felice, Conde de Bagnuoli, intended to reinforce the town of Paraíba in addition to 20 Lisbon-bound sugar merchantmen. Standing away from the coast, the entire formation was driven southeast by contrary winds and currents into the vicinity of the Albrolhos (rocks 200 miles off Brazil at about 18 degrees south latitude, their name deriving from the Portuguese phrase "abre olhos-eyes open-intended" as a warning of the half-submerged dangers). On the evening of 11 September the Iberian
fleet was sighted by Admiral Pater, who prepared for action overnight.
During Pater's voyage two of his ships became separated, leaving the Dutch admiral with his 46-gun, 1,000-ton flagship of the Dutch fleet Prins Willem and 50-gun, 800-ton Vice-flagship Geunieerde Provintien; 38-gun Provincie Ultrecht; 34-gun Walcheren; 32-gun Griffoen, and Groeningen; 30-gun Hollandia, and Oliphant; 28-gun Amersfoort, and Goeree; 26-gun Mercurius; 24-gun Dordrecht; 22-gun Medemblik; 20-gun Fortuijn, and Wapen Van Hoorn; plus 14-gun Niew Nederlandt.
to the day's success. The Dutch admiral Pater had formed his fleet in two lines, Its place was taken by the much larger Concepción of Capt. Juan de Prado. Pater beared down in faint east-northeasterly breezes upon de Oquendo, who was six miles distant, having ordered his 17 Spanish and Portuguese galleons to interpose in a half-moon crescent between the enemy and the convoy. Anunciada, Buenaventura, San Carlos, and San Bartolomé lag astern. Fighting began around midmorning, when Vice Admiral de Vallecilla's San Antonio opened fire on Thijssen's advancing Geunieerde Provintien, which closed into board along with Provincie Ultrecht. About 15 minutes later de Oquendo and four other galleon opened fire on Pater's flagship, which steered directly toward Santiago de Oliste with Walcheren. The Dutch held their opening broadsides until point-blank range, then fired and grappled. A murderous engagement erupted around each flagshp and vice-flag, both sides firing repeatedly into their opponents and yet unable to board. The smallest Portuguese galleon, Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres of Capt. Cosme do Couto Barbosa, attempted to support Santiago de Oliste, only to drift helplessly beneath the combined guns of Prins Willem and Walcheren and be sunk. Its place was taken by the much larger Concepción of Capt. Juan de Prado.
Eventually, about 4:00 PM., a chance shot from de Oquendo's flagship started a blaze aboard Prins Willem, which the Spanish admiral cleverly directed his musketeers to fire at, so as to hamper Dutch fire-fighting efforts. The flames gained hold and finally drove Pater into the water, along with a few survivors, where he drowned. About this same time, de Vallecilla's vice-flag, San Antonio, broke up and went down by its stern, taking most of the complement, its Dutch foe Provincie Ultrecht was sheered off in flames and later sunk.
Thijsen's Geunieerde Provintien was battered but in possession of a single prize - Buenaventura of Capt. Alonso de Alarcón y Molina, who had sailed to San Antonio's side during the fighting, only to lose his life and ship. The remaining Dutch vessels were content to fire from long range-Hollandia, Amersfoort, and Fortuijn being the only others to become closely engaged-while the Spaniards responded in kind.
De Oquendo meanwhile deposited his reinforcements at Barra Grande of Porto Calvo-only 700 of them actually reach Fort Arrail do Bom Jesus- before continuing toward Europe with his sugar convoy. The Dutch garrison at Pernambuco subsequently evacuated Olinda in November in order to concentrate its strength around Recife.
Background
On 5 May 1631 SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Admiral Oquendo left Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
with a fleet of about 20 men-of-war. He carried reinforcements to Paraíba
Paraíba
Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east...
, Pernambuco
Pernambuco
Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...
and Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
. On his way back to Portugal, he was to convoy ships loaded with sugar. So as to allow the Dutch extra time to get ready, he headed first for Bahia. Once they learned of his coming, the Dutch sent a fleet commanded by Adrian Pater in the same direction. Finally, on September 12, the two fleets met around the cays.
Ships involved
De Oquendo exited Baía de Todos os Santos with his 44-gun, 900-ton flagship Santiago de Oliste and 28-gun, 700-ton vice-flagship San Antonio; 30-gun Nuestra Señora de la Concepción; 28-gun Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso; 26-gun Nuestra Señora de la Anunciada;24-gun San Carlos; 22-gun San Buenaventura; 20-gun San Blas, San Francisco and San Pedro,; 18-gun San Bartolomé, and San Martín; plus the requisitioned French pinnaces Lion Doré of 10 guns (renamed San Antonio), and Saint Pierre of 8 guns (renamed San pedro). These Spanish men-of-war are accompanied by the 28-gun Portuguese warship São Jorge; 20-gun Santiago; 19.gun São João Baptista; 18-gun Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (Maior), and Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (Menor); plus the unarmed Nossa Senhora da Boa Nova, Nossa Senhora do Rozário, Santo António, Santa Cruz, and São Jerónimo.This force was protecting ten unarmed Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian caravels bearing 1,200 troops under the Neapolitan-born Cmdr. Giovanni Vincenzo de San Felice, Conde de Bagnuoli, intended to reinforce the town of Paraíba in addition to 20 Lisbon-bound sugar merchantmen. Standing away from the coast, the entire formation was driven southeast by contrary winds and currents into the vicinity of the Albrolhos (rocks 200 miles off Brazil at about 18 degrees south latitude, their name deriving from the Portuguese phrase "abre olhos-eyes open-intended" as a warning of the half-submerged dangers). On the evening of 11 September the Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
fleet was sighted by Admiral Pater, who prepared for action overnight.
During Pater's voyage two of his ships became separated, leaving the Dutch admiral with his 46-gun, 1,000-ton flagship of the Dutch fleet Prins Willem and 50-gun, 800-ton Vice-flagship Geunieerde Provintien; 38-gun Provincie Ultrecht; 34-gun Walcheren; 32-gun Griffoen, and Groeningen; 30-gun Hollandia, and Oliphant; 28-gun Amersfoort, and Goeree; 26-gun Mercurius; 24-gun Dordrecht; 22-gun Medemblik; 20-gun Fortuijn, and Wapen Van Hoorn; plus 14-gun Niew Nederlandt.
Battle
At first light the admiral summoned his captains for final instructions, then drank a toast of Brunswick beerto the day's success. The Dutch admiral Pater had formed his fleet in two lines, Its place was taken by the much larger Concepción of Capt. Juan de Prado. Pater beared down in faint east-northeasterly breezes upon de Oquendo, who was six miles distant, having ordered his 17 Spanish and Portuguese galleons to interpose in a half-moon crescent between the enemy and the convoy. Anunciada, Buenaventura, San Carlos, and San Bartolomé lag astern. Fighting began around midmorning, when Vice Admiral de Vallecilla's San Antonio opened fire on Thijssen's advancing Geunieerde Provintien, which closed into board along with Provincie Ultrecht. About 15 minutes later de Oquendo and four other galleon opened fire on Pater's flagship, which steered directly toward Santiago de Oliste with Walcheren. The Dutch held their opening broadsides until point-blank range, then fired and grappled. A murderous engagement erupted around each flagshp and vice-flag, both sides firing repeatedly into their opponents and yet unable to board. The smallest Portuguese galleon, Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres of Capt. Cosme do Couto Barbosa, attempted to support Santiago de Oliste, only to drift helplessly beneath the combined guns of Prins Willem and Walcheren and be sunk. Its place was taken by the much larger Concepción of Capt. Juan de Prado.
Eventually, about 4:00 PM., a chance shot from de Oquendo's flagship started a blaze aboard Prins Willem, which the Spanish admiral cleverly directed his musketeers to fire at, so as to hamper Dutch fire-fighting efforts. The flames gained hold and finally drove Pater into the water, along with a few survivors, where he drowned. About this same time, de Vallecilla's vice-flag, San Antonio, broke up and went down by its stern, taking most of the complement, its Dutch foe Provincie Ultrecht was sheered off in flames and later sunk.
Thijsen's Geunieerde Provintien was battered but in possession of a single prize - Buenaventura of Capt. Alonso de Alarcón y Molina, who had sailed to San Antonio's side during the fighting, only to lose his life and ship. The remaining Dutch vessels were content to fire from long range-Hollandia, Amersfoort, and Fortuijn being the only others to become closely engaged-while the Spaniards responded in kind.
Aftermath
The day ended in a Spanish victory, although Spanish losses proved to be somewhat greater. A Vice-flagship and galleon were sunk and another was taken, with 585 dead and missing (240 of these aboard the captured Buenaventura) plus 201 wounded. The Dutch flagship and another man-of-war disappeared beneath the waves, leaving 350 dead and missing plus more than 80 seriously wounded. However, Thijssen showed no inclination to renew action the next day, preferring to limp back to Recife with his mauled fleet on 21–22 September.De Oquendo meanwhile deposited his reinforcements at Barra Grande of Porto Calvo-only 700 of them actually reach Fort Arrail do Bom Jesus- before continuing toward Europe with his sugar convoy. The Dutch garrison at Pernambuco subsequently evacuated Olinda in November in order to concentrate its strength around Recife.