6 The first great fleet battles occurred in European waters
The relief of Gibraltar required the assembly of a fleet of supply ships, which sailed in convoy escorted by 21 British ships of the line in December 1779. A Spanish fleet was dispatched to intercept the convoy, but when the Spaniards learned of the size of the escort, which was far greater than they expected, they attempted to withdraw. The British ships ran down and overwhelmed the Spanish at the First Battle of Cape St. Vincent, an unusual sea battle given that it was fought at night, a rare undertaking during the age of sail. Four Spanish ships were captured by the British, including the Spanish flagship, while two others were lost to grounding.
When Rodney’s victorious fleet arrived at Gibraltar, the much smaller blockading fleet was forced to withdraw to the security of the fortified harbor at Algeciras, and the first relief mission to Gibraltar arrived on January 19, 1780. The British fleet commander, Admiral George Rodney, then sailed for the West Indies, after detaching some of his ships which were in need of refitting in England. The relief expedition was one of three which were forced to fight their way to Gibraltar during the siege, in effect pinning large portions of Great Britain’s navy in European waters, at a time when they could have been used to great effect in North American waters.