Battle of Vigo Bay

The Battle of Vigo Bay, also known as the Battle of Rande (Galician: A Batalla de Rande; Spanish: Batalla de Rande) was a naval engagement fought on 23 October 1702 during the opening years of the War of the Spanish Succession. The engagement followed an Anglo-Dutch attempt to capture the Spanish port of Cádiz in September in an effort to secure a naval base in the Iberian Peninsula. From this station the Allies had hoped to conduct operations in the western Mediterranean Sea, particularly against the French at Toulon. The amphibious assault, however, had proved a disaster, but as Admiral George Rooke retreated home in early October, he received news that the Spanish treasure fleet from America, laden with silver and merchandise, had entered Vigo Bay in northern Spain. Philips van Almonde convinced Rooke to attack the treasure ships, despite the lateness of the year and the fact that the vessels were protected by French ships-of-the-line.

The engagement was an overwhelming naval success for the Allies: the entire French escort fleet, under the command of Château-Renault, together with the Spanish galleons and transports under Manuel de Velasco, had either been captured or destroyed. Yet because most of the treasure had been off-loaded before the attack, capturing the bulk of the silver cargo had eluded Rooke. Nevertheless, the victory was a welcome boost to Allied morale and had helped persuade the Portuguese King, Peter II, to abandon his earlier treaty with the French, and join the Grand Alliance.

Battle of Vigo Bay (painting)

The Battle of Vigo Bay is a 1702 oil on canvas painting by the Dutch artist Ludolf Bakhuizen. It depicts the Battle of Vigo Bay fought by Anglo-Dutch and Franco-Spanish forces.

Battle of Vigo

The Battle of Vigo may refer to:

Capture of Vigo

The Capture of Vigo occurred in 1719 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance when a British expedition landed on the Spanish coast and seized the settlement of Vigo which they occupied for ten days before withdrawing. The expedition was under the overall command of Lord Cobham with the naval forces commanded by Vice Admiral James Mighels.

The force advanced inland as far as Pontevedra, and levied a contribution from Santiago de Compostela. The expedition was launched in retaliation for Spanish involvement in a Jacobite Rising that had seen Spanish troops landed in Scotland where they were defeated at the Battle of Glen Shiel. The expedition was also intended to demonstrate to the Spanish that Allied forces could strike along their vulnerable coastline with ease, and was co-ordinated with a French assault on eastern Spain, in the hope that this would force Spain to the peace table. This caused some shock to the Spanish authorities as they realized how vulnerable they were to Allied amphibious descents, with the potential to open up a new front away from the French frontier.

Vigo

Vigo (/ˈviːɡoʊ/, Galician: [ˈbiɣo], locally: [ˈbiħo, -xo], Spanish: [ˈbiɣo]) is a city on the Atlantic Ocean in the province of Pontevedra, in Galicia, north-west Spain.

Vigo is the most populous municipality in Galicia, and the 14th in Spain.

Vigo is in the south-west of Galicia, in the southern part of Vigo Bay. In the north-east, it borders the municipality of Redondela, in the east Mos, in the south O Porriño and Gondomar, and in the south-west Nigrán. On the other side of the bay are the municipalities of Cangas and Moaña. They are all part of the southern Galician region called Rias Baixas. Vigo is located just north of the border with Portugal and its nearest larger city is Portugal's second largest city of Porto.

Vigo and its metropolitan area is one of the main economic agents of the region.

History

In the Middle Ages, the small village of Vigo was part of the territory of Galician speaking neighbouring towns, particularly Tui, and suffered several Viking attacks. However, the number of inhabitants was so small that, historically, Vigo was not considered to be a real village until around the 15th century, when the earliest records began.

Vigo (disambiguation)

Vigo can refer to:

Places

People

Vigo is an Italian surname, probably derived from the Latin word vicus (neighbourhood or settlement). An alternative spelling found as a forename is Viggo. But also can be a Spanish last name. The City of Vigo in Galicia, Spain, has close to 500,000 population and it can be where the surname comes from.

Vigo (comarca)

Vigo is a comarca in the Galician province of Pontevedra. The overall population of this local region is 413,996.

Th comarca is formed from the following municipalities:

Coordinates: 42°12′00″N 8°41′00″W / 42.2°N 8.68333°W / 42.2; -8.68333