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.
As the flagship of Admiral Juan de Lángara, the ship fought at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on 16January 1780, where she was captured by the British Royal Navy and commissioned as the third rate HMS Gibraltar in March of that year. She spent a short while in the English Channel before joining Samuel Hood's squadron in the West Indies and taking part in the Capture of St Eustatius in February 1781 and the Battle of Fort Royal the following month. Gibraltar and five other ships were sent to stop a French invasion fleet bound for Tobago in May 1781, but found the French too powerful and had to withdraw. In November, her 18-pound guns were replaced with 24-pounders, after which, in February 1782, she sailed to the East Indies and in the following year participated in the Battle of Cuddalore.
At the start of the French Revolutionary War, Gibraltar served in the Channel Fleet, fighting at the Glorious First of June in 1794 before being sent to the Mediterranean in May 1795. In June, the ship was in an action off Hyères; then, in December 1796, she was badly damaged in a storm and had to return to England for major repairs. By June Gibraltar was back in the Mediterranean, serving in the navy's Egyptian campaign, where she remained during and beyond the Peace of Amiens, except for a short period when she was sent home for a refit.
Returning to the Channel in April 1807, Gibraltar joined the fleet under Admiral James Gambier, which fought the Battle of the Basque Roads in 1809. This was her last major action; the ship was taken out of service in 1813 and converted to a powder hulk. She became a lazarette in 1824, then was broken up in November 1836 at Pembroke Dock.
Construction and armament Fénix was a Spanish, two deck, ship of the line built in Havana from mahogany.Winfield, (2007) p. 37 Launched in 1749, her dimensions were along the gun deck, at the keel, with a beam of and a depth in the hold of . This made her 2,184 tons burthen (bm).
Classed as an 80-gun third rate, Fénix was armed with thirty on her lower gun deck, thirty-two on her upper gun deck, twelve on the quarterdeck, and six on the forecastle. Her sister ship, , was later converted to a 100-gun, three-decker. She was wrecked at Trafalgar in 1805.
Fénix was captured by the British in 1780. She was copper sheathed and fitted out for British service at Plymouth Dockyard between April and August 1780 at a cost of £16,068.5.3d. The Admiralty changed her armament a number of times: in November 1781, the 18-pounders on her upper deck were upgraded to 24-pounders, and the same December two carronades were added. By 1810, the guns on her quarterdeck had been replaced with four guns and eight carronades, and on her forecastle with four 12-pounder guns and two 32-pounder carronades.Winfield, (2008) p. 29 Although large, two deck ships were favoured in other European navies, the British preferred to build three-deck third rates; the extra space making them better suited for flagships. After the capture of Fénix, the Admiralty began to see the advantages of a longer two-deck ship which was less prone to hog, almost as well armed as its three-decked counterparts, and relatively quick.Winfield (2008) p. 28
Spanish service Fénix was part of a squadron of eleven ships-of-the-line, accompanied by two frigates and two tartanes, sent to collect the new king, Carlos III, from Naples in 1759. Under Captain Gutierra de Hevia y Valdés and as the flagship of Lieutenant General Juan Jose Navarro, she set sail from Cádiz on 29August. The squadron passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on 2September, before stopping at Cartagena on 10September to pick up supplies. On 28September it arrived at its destination, where it was reinforced with five other men-of-war. The King embarked on 7October, and the squadron arrived in Barcelona on 17October.Duro, p. 17Alía Plana, p. 345
Fénix was stationed in Cádiz in January 1762 and spent the next two years serving in the Mediterranean Sea, the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Atlantic Ocean. Fénix underwent several large repairs at the Arsenal de la Carraca between 1764 and 1765, where she remained stripped of her armament until 1769, under the command of Francisco Cotiella. In 1778 Fénix was recommissioned under Captain Félix Ignacio de Tejada, who was superseded by Captain Francisco Javier deMelgarejo y Rojas when Spain entered the American Revolutionary War in June 1779.Losada, p. 233 Fénix immediately set sail for the English Channel, part of the fleet under Lieutenant General Luis de Córdova y Córdova, which was supposed to meet a French fleet at the Sisgaras Islands, off the northern coast of Spain. This Franco-Spanish Armada of 1779 of more than 60 ships of the line was to escort an invasion force of 40,000 troops across the Channel in a bid to capture the British naval base at Portsmouth.Duro, pp. 231–236 Córdova's ships were delayed by contrary winds, which forced them to keep close to the coast of Portugal. In consequence they did not arrive at the rendezvous until 22July, by which time the French, short of supplies, had left.Duro, p. 236 Although the two fleets would eventually unite, Fénix left for the Azores on 23July with a squadron under Lieutenant General Antonio de Ulloa, to protect the Spanish anchorage and to face a British force of which the Spanish had received news.Losada, p. 236
The Moonlight Battle
By 1780, Fénix was 31 years old. She was neither a good sailer nor as well armed as her British counterparts, which carried . Nevertheless, as the largest ship in a squadron comprising eleven ships-of-the-line and two frigates, she was serving as the flagship of Admiral Don Juan Lángara, when on 16January 1780, she was seen by a British fleet commanded by Admiral George Rodney.
The faster British ships closed, and battle began around 16:00. , trailing in the Spanish fleet, received broadsides from the 74-gun ships , , and before exploding around 16:40.Mahan, p. 449 Marlborough and Ajax then passed the 70-gun to engage other Spanish ships. Princessa would eventually engage in an hour-long battle with before striking her colours around 17:30.Syrett, p. 240 The chase continued into the dark; at 19:30, the 74-gun came upon Fénix and engaged her in a battle that lasted over an hour. Fénix was then broadsided in passing by another seventy-four, , and the 90-gun , wounding Lángara in the process. Fénix finally surrendered to the 64-gun , which arrived late in the battle but shot away Fénixs mainmast. At 21:15 Montagu engaged the 68-gun , which struck after her main topmast had been shot away.
Around 23:00, the 70-gun San Eugenio surrendered after having all of her masts shot away by the 74-gun while of 74 guns and Prince George, engaged the 70-gun San Julián and compelled her to surrender around 01:00 the next day. The last ship to surrender was the 68-gun . After shooting away the topmast of the 74-gun , she engaged in a running battle with the frigate HMS Apollo and struck when Rodney's flagship, the 98-gun , came upon the scene around 02:00.Syrett, p. 241 San Eugenio and San Julián were blown ashore and lost, but the other four were taken into the Royal Navy. Four other Spanish vessels escaped from the action.
British service Fénix was commissioned under Captain John Carter Allen in February 1780 and renamed HMS Gibraltar on 23April. She joined George Darby's fleet in the English Channel until 29November, when she left for Samuel Hood's squadron in the West Indies under Captain Walter Stirling. In 1781, under Captain Charles Knatchbull, Gibraltar became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Francis Samuel Drake and was present at the Capture of St Eustatius in February. Following the outbreak of war between the Dutch Republic and Britain in December 1780, Rodney received orders from London to seize the island. A British expedition of 3,000 troops from St Lucia, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Vaughan, arrived off St Eustatius on 3February 1781. Rodney, in command of the naval forces, positioned his fleet so as to neutralise any shore batteries, but instead of disembarking the troops and launching an immediate assault, Rodney sent a message to Governor Johannes de Graaff suggesting that he surrender to avoid bloodshed. DeGraaff agreed to the proposal and capitulated. The only shots fired were from Gibraltar and , both of which, without orders, briefly engaged Mars, the only Dutch warship in the roadstead.Trew, pp. 102–103
Blockade of Martinique
Gibraltar was part of a 17-ship squadron, keeping four French ships-of-the-line in Fort Royal, Martinique, when on 29April 1781 a 20-ship fleet and a merchant convoy under Contre-amiral François deGrasse arrived from Brest. Out of sight of the British, deGrasse put a man ashore to swap information with Fort Royal's garrison, and agree on a plan of attack with the blockaded ships.Clowes (Vol. III), p. 482
De Grasse ordered his fleet to prepare for action, and on the morning of April29 sailed for Fort Royal with the convoy ships hugging the coast and the armed ships in battle line. Hood's fleet was seen bearing toward them around 08:00 but deGrasse held the weather gauge. At about 09:20, Hood was joined by Prince William, a 64-gun ship that had been at St. Lucia. The two fleets continued to push for advantageous positions. Hood's leeward position prevented deGrasse from bringing the convoy to the harbour, but the four previously blockaded French ships were able to sail out and strengthen deGrasse's position.Clowes (Vol. III), p. 484 Gibraltar, as Drake's flagship, led the British rear division.
Around 11:00, the French van began firing at long range, with little effect. By 12:30 the two fleets were aligned, but deGrasse refused to close with Hood, despite Hood's efforts to bring the French to him. The fleets then exchanged cannonades and broadsides at a distance for the next hour. The damage incurred on either side was modest; the four British ships on the southern end of the line suffered the most damage from having been targeted and outnumbered by eight French ships. The 74-gun suffered in particular, and that night Hood sent her to StEustatius. Arriving on 4May, her commander was able to brief Rodney about the engagement and French numbers.Clowes (Vol. III), p. 486 British casualties amounted to 43 dead and 161 wounded, of which Gibraltars share was 6 and 16, respectively.
In an attempt to force an action, Hood spent most of the next day struggling to get his ships to windward, but finding two of his fleet too damaged to sail properly, he eventually broke off in a northerly direction. Rodney, who had left StEustatius earlier that day in Sandwich with the 74-gun and the hurriedly repaired Russell, met with Hood on 11May between St Kitts and Antigua. The reunited fleet turned south, putting into Barbados on 18May.
Invasion of St Lucia and Tobago