The Battle of Cape Santa Maria was a naval engagement that took place off the southern Portuguese coast, in which a British squadron under the command of Commodore Graham Moore attacked and defeated a Spanish squadron commanded by Brigadier Don José de Bustamante y Guerra.

Admiral Sir Graham Moore was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he took part in the Great Siege of Gibraltar during the American Revolutionary War. As captain of the frigate Melampus, he took part in the Battle of Tory Island in October 1798, capturing the Résolue two days later, during the French Revolutionary Wars. He went on to be First Naval Lord, then Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, and finally, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. He was the younger brother of General Sir John Moore.