Action of 16 April 1755
| Action of 16 April 1755 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Spanish-Barbary Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Spain | Regency of Algiers | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| José Flon | Archimussa (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5 xebecs |
3 xebecs 60 cannons | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
5 killed 50 wounded[1] |
3 xebecs sunk All killed or captured | ||||||
| 14 European slaves freed | |||||||
The Action of 16 April 1755 was fought off Benidorm, between a Spanish fleet of 5 xebecs and an Algerian fleet of 3 xebecs. The Spaniards were victorious and captured the whole crew.
Battle
[edit ]The names of the five Spanish xebecs were Aventurero, Ibicenco, Catalán, Garzota and Gavilán and were led by the Spanish commander José Flon [2] [3] while the 3 Algerian xebecs had 24, 22 and 14 cannons and were led by Archimussa, an Algerian corsair.[1] [4] The two fleets met off the coast of Benidorm and, after 14 hours of fighting,[1] the Spanish emerged victorious,[5] sinking the three Algerian xebecs.[2] The Spanish disembarked them in the port of Cartagena, where their wounds were treated and would later be recognized. Among the crew were 321 Turks, 162 Moors [6] [7] and 9 privateers who had previously worked for Spain.[2] Among the slaves were 1 Christian, 11 Dutch, 1 Piedmontese and 1 Roman [6] which had recently been captured in a Dutch hulk and were on their way to Algiers.[7] The slaves were freed but the Turks and Moors were enslaved.[2]
References
[edit ]- ^ a b c de La Croix 1779, p. 53.
- ^ a b c d Martínez 2013, p. 160.
- ^ Arribas y Seria 1792, p. 298.
- ^ Macabich 1967, p. 376.
- ^ Pío Aladrén & Moreno 1979, p. 419.
- ^ a b Gozalo 2006, p. 61.
- ^ a b Martínez 2007, p. 344.
Bibliography
[edit ]- de La Croix, Abbé Nicolle (1779). Geografia moderna (in Spanish). J. Ibarra.
- Arribas y Seria, Juan (1792). Enciclopedia Metódica, Geografía Moderna (in Spanish). imp. Sancha.
- Pío Aladrén, Pilar Sam; Moreno, Carmen Zamarrón (1979). Catálogo de la colección de documentos de Vargas Ponce que possee el Museo Naval: Serie primera, numeración romane (in Spanish). Editorial CSIC - CSIC Press. ISBN 978-84-500-3648-0.
- Martínez, Manuel Martínez (July 2013). Los forzados de marina en la España del siglo XVIII (1700-1775) (in Spanish). Universidad Almería. ISBN 978-84-15487-83-8.
- Gozalo, Maximiliano Barrio (2006). Esclavos y cautivos: Conflicto entre la cristiandad y el islam en el siglo XVIII (in Spanish). Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de Cultura y Turismo. ISBN 978-84-9718-383-3.
- Martínez, Manuel Martínez (14 November 2007). Los forzados de Marina en el siglo XVIII. El caso de los gitanos (1700-1765). Universidad Almería. ISBN 978-84-8240-852-1.
- Macabich, Isidoro (1967). Historia de Ibiza. Editorial Daedalus.