Spanish ship Fenix (1749)
Fénix was an 80-gun ship of the line (navio) of the Spanish Navy, built by Pedro de Torres at Havana in accordance with the system laid down by Antonio Gaztaneta launched in 1749. In 1759, she was sent to bring the new king, Carlos III, from Naples to Barcelona. When Spain entered the American Revolutionary War in June 1779, Fénix set sail for the English Channel where she was to join a Franco-Spanish fleet of more than 60 ships of the line under Lieutenant General Luis de Córdova y Córdova. The Armada of 1779 was an invasion force of 40,000 troops with orders to capture the British naval base at Portsmouth.
Ship-of-the-line Fénix by Rafael Berenguer y Condé, Naval Museum of Madrid
The moonlight Battle off Cape St Vincent, 16 January 1780, painting by Francis Holman, 1780, shows Santo Domingo exploding, with Rodney's flagship Sandwich in the foreground
Rodney's relief fleet at Gibraltar fresh from the Battle of Cape St Vincent with captured Spanish battleships (including the Fenix), by Dominic Serres. The captured vessels fly white ensigns with a wheel-type design, probably intended to represent the Spanish ensign.
Celebrating the capture of Tobago, French painting from 1784
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)
The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a naval battle that took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle because it was unusual for naval battles in the Age of Sail to take place at night. It was also the first major naval victory for the British over their European enemies in the war and proved the value of copper-sheathing the hulls of warships.
The moonlight Battle off Cape St Vincent, 16 January 1780, Francis Holman
Don Juan de Lángara, portrait by an unknown artist.
Admiral Sir George Rodney, portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
La Battalla de Cabo de San Vincente, painted by an unknown Spanish artist.