The action off Bermuda, also known as Grenville's action off the Bermuda's, was a minor naval engagement that took place off the island of

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

over three days in late August 1585 during the Anglo–Spanish War between an English galleass, ''Tiger'', and a larger Spanish galleon, ''Santa Maria de San Vicente''. ''Tiger'' was victorious when the Spanish ship surrendered after a severe bombardment.Marley (2008) p 116

Background

In April 1585, English Admiral

Richard Grenville Sir Richard Grenville ( – ), also spelt Greynvile, Greeneville, and Greenfield, was an English privateer and explorer. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Cornwall and Bideford, Devon. He subsequently participated in the plantat ...

was in charge of a seven-strong fleet that brought English settlers to establish a military

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

Roanoke Island Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English colonizat ...

. This had been founded by Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebell ...

, off the Western coast of North America (modern-day

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

).Quinn pp 85-86 War had already been declared by

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

after the

Treaty of Nonsuch A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, conventio ...

in which

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

had offered her support to the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Dutch rebels. In August the 160-ton English ship ''Tiger'' or ''Tyger'' of twenty two guns (which had been converted from a galleass) under Grenville began her voyage back to England from the 1585 Roanoke Expedition.Kupperman pp 23-24 On 31 August 1585 the ''Tiger'' after only the seventh day of sail sighted a ship; upon closer inspection it turned out to be a Spanish ship, and eventually caught up with her.Bicheno pp 180-81

Battle

The Spanish ship fired off a friendly

salute A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sc ...

, and as soon as the ship was in range, the ''Tiger'' opened fire.Miller p 104 The Spanish ship was the ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'', the flagship of the

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

squadron of the Spanish Flota, captained by Alonzo de Cornieles. At near 400 tons ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'' was a richly-laden galleon having sailed from

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. She was struggling to catch up with the main convoy of thirty ships much farther ahead, having been forced to heave-to by gale-force winds. Grenville soon realised that the size of the ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'' was much larger (200 tons bigger) than his own ship. The ''Tiger'' sought to close and use her guns to pound the ship into submission rather than board, which was Grenville's initial strategy. Cannon fire from the ''Tiger'' soon found their target and sent shot firstly into the

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support and control a sailing ship or sail boat's masts and sails. ''Standing rigging'' is the fixed rigging that supports masts including shrouds and stays. ''Running rigg ...

of ''Santa Maria de San Vicente''. She was hit by a number of broadsides from the ''Tiger'', and a further shot holed her below the waterline. For three days the ''Santa Maria'' managed to put up with incessant attacks from ''Tiger'' but was unable to reply effectively as her guns were falling well short of the English vessel. Unable to tolerate the bombardment any more the ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'' turned around and attacked. She attempted to board, but the ''Tiger'' kept a good distance putting up stout resistance. The English ship, despite being outnumbered, was able to gain the upper hand by pounding the Spanish ship into submission.Canny pp 91-92 ''Tiger'' began to have some sustained damage, and the English decided to act. With crates and sheathing from the ''Tiger'', English sailors created a raft and used it to assault the Spanish ship. Cornieles seeing that he was in a desperate situation having already been holed and suffered heavy damage, then surrendered. The twenty men on the makeshift raft sank just as they landed on board. The Spanish had suffered ten casualties in all, while the English had only two wounded. The Spanish prisoners were transferred to the ''Tiger'', and the two ships travelled together, bound for England.

Aftermath

On the journey home both ships endured high seas and storms - the prisoners were dropped off at the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

islands under oath. The ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'' was taken into

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

amid much rejoicing. Grenville officially valued the prize at 15,000 pounds, making the voyage a large profit. The capture was vital for underlining Grenville and Raleigh's case that colonization and exploration could be financed through

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

ing. Over 40,000

ducat The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...

s worth of gold, silver, and

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

s" along with

cochineal The cochineal ( , ; ''Dactylopius coccus'') is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessility (motility), sessile parasitism, parasite native to tropical and subtropical Sout ...

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

were discovered in the large

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

. On the other hand, the Spanish estimated the value of the vessel at 50,000 pounds, and it was rumoured by some to have been worth as much as one million ducats. This spurred accusations against Grenville of embezzlement. ''Santa Maria'' was converted into a galleon known as the ''Galleon Dudley''. Three years later both ''Tiger'' and the ''Galleon Dudley'' fought during the defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

.Powell p.14 Pedro Diaz, a pilot of the ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'', was kept as a prisoner by the English, who brought him along on the 1586 Roanoke Voyage, of which he kept a detailed journal which proved useful in knowledge of that expedition. The cannons from ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'' were discovered by the quayside of Bideford in 1895. They were then placed in Bideford's Victoria Park only to be erroneously labelled 'Amada cannons'.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * {{cite book, last1=Quinn, first1=David B, title=Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584-1606, date=1985, publisher=UNC Press Books, isbn=978-0-8078-4123-5, url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/setfairforroanok00quin

Conflicts in 1585 Naval battles involving Spain Naval battles involving England