When was the Battle of Cape St. Vincent?

On 14 February 1797, off Cape St. Vincent, the southwestern point of Portugal. Several earlier sea battles share the name, so it is sometimes called the Battle of Cape St. Vincent of 1797.

Who won the Battle of Cape St. Vincent?

The British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis. It captured four Spanish ships of the line, and the Spanish fleet withdrew into Cádiz, where it was blockaded.

What did Nelson do at Cape St. Vincent?

He took HMS Captain out of the line without orders to block the escape of the Spanish main body, then boarded the San Nicolás and from her deck boarded and captured the larger San José.

How many ships did each side have?

Jervis had 15 ships of the line. Royal Museums Greenwich gives 27 Spanish ships of the line; britishbattles.com credits Córdoba with 35 ships in all, frigates included.

What was Nelson's patent bridge?

The Royal Navy's joking name for Nelson's feat of capturing one enemy ship by crossing over another: he boarded San José by way of the captured San Nicolás.

Battle of Cape St. Vincent, 1797: Jervis, Nelson and the patent bridge

Nicholas Pocock, “The Captain capturing the San Nicolas and the San José at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 14 February 1797” (1808), Royal Museums Greenwich BHC0487, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Quick answer

What happened at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent?

On 14 February 1797 Admiral Sir John Jervis, with 15 ships of the line, attacked a much larger Spanish fleet under Admiral José de Córdoba off Cape St. Vincent in Portugal and cut through it. When the Spanish main body looked set to escape, Commodore Horatio Nelson left the line on his own initiative to block it, then boarded and captured two Spanish ships, one from the deck of the other. Jervis took four ships and the Spanish fleet retreated into Cádiz.¹

In early 1797 Britain was short of good news. Spain had changed sides and joined France, the Royal Navy had pulled out of the Mediterranean, and a French invasion force had nearly landed in Ireland in December 1796. The battle off Cape St. Vincent gave the country a victory, made Admiral Jervis an earl and made Horatio Nelson a national hero.²

A Spanish fleet at sea

In early February 1797 the Spanish fleet left Cartagena for Cádiz, intending to go on to Brest and join the French; together the two fleets would have threatened Britain itself. Gales blew it out into the Atlantic, and it was making its way back toward Cádiz when the British found it.³

The Spanish admiral, José de Córdoba, had heard from a passing American ship that Jervis had only nine ships off Cape St. Vincent, and decided to attack. Since that report, six more had joined the British fleet. Nelson, sailing from Gibraltar in the frigate Minerve, reached Jervis on 13 February with news that the Spanish were close, and moved his commodore's pendant to the 74 gun HMS Captain.⁴

Cutting the line

Dawn on 14 February was foggy. The British heard the Spanish signal guns before they saw anything, and when the fog lifted Jervis saw that he faced about twice his own number. One officer, Historic UK records, described the Spanish ships looming like Beachy Head in a fog. The Spanish were sailing in two straggling groups with a gap between them.⁵

Jervis formed a single line of battle behind Captain Thomas Troubridge's Culloden and at 11:26 signaled the fleet to pass through the enemy's line, cutting the Spanish fleet in two. Troubridge pressed on despite the risk of collision; warned by his first lieutenant, he is said to have answered, "Let the weakest fend off!". The British fired double shotted broadsides as they passed through the gap.⁶

Nelson leaves the line

Both Spanish groups turned north. Culloden tacked to lead the British line after the larger one, but each British ship had to reach the same turning point in succession, and the Spanish main body under Córdoba looked set to escape or reunite with its other half. Jervis signaled the ships at the rear to turn toward the enemy, but in the poor visibility the signal was not seen.⁷

Nelson, third from the rear in Captain, did not wait. Disobeying the order to keep station, he wore his ship out of the line, cut back between Diadem and Excellent and steered straight for the head of the Spanish column, where the 130 gun Santísima Trinidad, the largest warship afloat, led several three deckers. For a time Captain fought them almost alone, her wheel and rigging shot away, until Culloden and then Excellent came up to help.⁸

The patent bridge for boarding

Captain Cuthbert Collingwood in Excellent forced two Spanish ships, the Salvador del Mundo and the San Isidro, to strike, then pushed on to support Nelson. His fire at a range of a few feet made the 80 gun San Nicolás swing away and foul the 112 gun San José.⁹

Captain was now unmanageable. Nelson had her laid alongside San Nicolás and led the boarding party himself; Historic UK quotes his cry of "Death or glory!". While San Nicolás was surrendering, men in the towering San José alongside opened fire on her deck, so Nelson called for reinforcements and boarded San José from San Nicolás, taking her too. The Navy called the feat Nelson's patent bridge for boarding first rates. Historic UK notes that it was the first time since 1513 that an officer of such rank had personally led a boarding party.¹⁰

Victory and reward

The Spanish broke off and headed for Cádiz. The damage to the British ships and nine Spanish ships that had not yet fought ruled out a pursuit, and Jervis had to be content with four prizes, two of them first rates. The figures for the losses vary: britishbattles.com gives about 300 British killed and wounded and about 1,000 Spanish killed, wounded and captured, while Historic UK gives some 250 Spanish dead and 3,000 prisoners.¹¹

The Spanish fleet never joined the French at Brest and stayed blockaded in Cádiz. Jervis became Earl St. Vincent, a title chosen by King George III, and Nelson was knighted as a member of the Order of the Bath; news of his promotion to rear admiral arrived just after the battle. On board Victory, Jervis embraced him for the initiative that had won the day. Historic UK adds a fair warning: Nelson's legend has too often overshadowed what Collingwood, Troubridge and Saumarez did that day.¹²