The action of 8 January 1780 was a naval encounter off Cape Finisterre between a British Royal Naval fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney, and a fleet of Spanish merchants sailing in convoy with seven warships of the Caracas Company, under the command of Commodore Don Juan Augustin de Yardi. During the action the entire Spanish convoy was captured. Rodney's fleet was en route to relieve Gibraltar, and this action took place several days before Rodney's engagement and defeat of a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
George Rodney. Engraving from Edward Francis Finden
George Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB, was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. It is often claimed that he was the commander to have pioneered the tactic of breaking the line.
Admiral Rodney after the Battle of the Saintes, 1782, by Thomas Gainsborough. Behind is the French fleur de lys naval ensign from the captured Ville De Paris
The Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747.
Portrait of Rodney by Joshua Reynolds showing him after his appointment as a rear admiral in 1759.
George Brydges Rodney, by Joshua Reynolds in 1789