Qualla: Battle of Vigo Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-vigo-bay en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:17 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/9/b/battle-of-vigo-bay-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Vigo Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-vigo-bay Battle of Vigo Bay: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-vigo-bay/ Photo credit Alphonse de Neuville / Henri Théophile Hildibrand, Public domain. The intelligence came from a boastful French consul. In October 1702, Captain Thomas Hardy's chaplain, a Jersey man named Beauvoir, was watering in the Portuguese port of Lagos when the consul let slip that the Spanish treasure fleet, laden with silver from the Americas, had entered Vigo Bay in northern Spain. Beauvoir confirmed the report through a messenger from the Imperial Embassy in Lisbon. Hardy raced after Admiral George Rooke, catching him on October 17 just in time to prevent the fleet from crossing the Bay of Biscay for home. Rooke's recent attempt to capture Cadiz had been a humiliating failure. Now, word of a treasure fleet changed everything.

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Image: Alphonse de Neuville / Henri Théophile Hildibrand | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/9/b/battle-of-vigo-bay-wp/ez9b-battle-of-vigo-bay-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Vigo Bay: Silver, Suspicion, and a Sheltered Bay https://qualla.com/battle-of-vigo-bay/ Photo credit Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0. The treasure fleet had crossed the Atlantic from Havana: 56 vessels, 22 Spanish and the rest French, carrying silver, pepper, cochineal, cocoa, snuff, indigo, and hides. Under normal circumstances, the cargo would have been landed at Cadiz, but the Anglo-Dutch fleet's recent atta...

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Image: Fernando | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/9/b/battle-of-vigo-bay-wp/ez9b-battle-of-vigo-bay-silver-suspicion-and-a-sheltered-bay.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Vigo Bay: Breaking the Boom https://qualla.com/battle-of-vigo-bay/ Photo credit Michael Dahl, Public domain. Early on October 23, Vice Admiral Thomas Hopsonn led the attack on the boom, followed by English ships and Dutch vessels under Philips van der Goes. Simultaneously, the Duke of Ormonde landed 2,000 marines near Teis and marched on Fort Rande. Lord Shannon's grenadiers stormed the...

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Image: Michael Dahl | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/9/b/battle-of-vigo-bay-wp/ez9b-battle-of-vigo-bay-breaking-the-boom.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Vigo Bay: The Treasure That Got Away https://qualla.com/battle-of-vigo-bay/ Photo credit Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0. The destruction was total. Of the French escort's 15 ships of the line, 2 frigates, and 1 fireship, none escaped. Five were captured by the English, one by the Dutch, and the rest burned. All three Spanish galleons and 13 trading vessels were destroyed or taken. Yet the silver th...

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Image: Raimond Spekking | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/9/b/battle-of-vigo-bay-wp/ez9b-battle-of-vigo-bay-the-treasure-that-got-away.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Vigo Bay: Ripples Across an Empire https://qualla.com/battle-of-vigo-bay/ Photo credit Joseolgon, CC BY 4.0. The battle's strategic consequences far outweighed the captured treasure. The demonstration of Anglo-Dutch naval dominance persuaded Peter II of Portugal to abandon his treaty with France and join the Grand Alliance. This alliance gave the Maritime Powers a base in Lisbon and ope...

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Image: Joseolgon | CC BY 4.0

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/9/b/battle-of-vigo-bay-wp/ez9b-battle-of-vigo-bay-ripples-across-an-empire.mp3 0:06 5 full