THE WEEK'S GREAT DAY

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 39, 15 February 1930, Page 8

THE WEEK'S GREAT DAY

FEBRUARY 14.—BATTLE OF ST. VINCENT.

(Copyrighted.) One hundred and thirty-three years ago, on February 14, 1797, the great victory of the British fleet at the Battle of St.- Vincent frustrated one of the most formidable of the many schemes projected by the French for the invasion of England.

At that time the French had secured the control of the navies of Spain and Holland and had decided to unite them with their own fleet, which was then lying in Brest Harbour," for the purpose of launching an overwhelming attack upon the British fleet and thus clear the way for the landing of a French army on the shores of Britain.

The Spanish fleet was ordered to proceed to Brest, and while on its way there from Cartagena it was intercepted by a British squadron under the command of Sir John Jervis, who had been lying in wait for it at Lisbon, and the two fleets sighted each other early on the morning of February 14 off Cape St. Vincent, on the coast of Portugal.

Tire Spaniards were numerically the stronger, for they had twenty-seven battleships and 2176 guns against the fifteen ships and 1252 guns of the British, but this superiority, did not deter Jervis from making an immediate attack upon the enemy, which was sighted in two divisions, sailing parallel with each other. Jervis, having formed his ships into a close single line, ordered them to sail between the two sections of the Spanish fleet and to maintain a heavy broadside fire as they passed between the enemy's lines. This was accordingly done, and six of the Spanish ships were cut off from the fleet.

If Jervis' original intention of passing completely through the gap in the enemy's line before turning had been carried out the Spaniards might 7 have had a chance of effecting their escape around the rear of the British ships and thus avoided a general engagement. This possibility was foreseen by Commodore Horatio Nelson, who was in command of H.M.s. Captain, the third ship from the end of the British line, and he, without waiting for orders, swung his ship out of the line and threw it across the bows of the enemy. For a short time H.M.s. Captain had to fight the Spanish fleet all alone, but its daring movement was seen and approved by Jervis, who at once ordered the rest of the fleet to follow the Captain's example, and the whole of the British force was thrown bodily on the enemy. The superior gunnery and discipline of the British sailors speedily threw the Spaniards into confusion, but the battle continued until half-past three in the afternoon, when the Spaniards were completely beaten and four of their ships had surrendered. Many more prizes might have been secured by Jervis, but he thought it was wise to be content with four, so the remainder of the Spanish fleet were able to make their way into Cadiz Harboui', from which they had no chance of escaping to join their ally at Brest, and once more the French were compelled to abandon their project of invading Britain. The services of Jervis in this engagement were rewarded with a peerage, and he took the title of Earl St. 'Vincent, while the part played in the battle by X els on, which gained for him a knighthood, revealed to the British public for the first time his remarkable genius and daring, which had hitherto been little known outside naval circles.