Alonso de Bazán, son of Admiral Álvaro de Bazán the Elder, Marquis del Viso, and brother of the better known Admiral Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz, was a Spanish naval commander during the Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604) and the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

Notable military actions

In 1584, inspired by his father's work to create design of ships which combined sailing and rowing power, he created the ''galizabra'', a hybrid of

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

and zabra.E. G. Torralba Pérez, ''Las fragatas de vela de la armada espanola 1600-1850 (su evolucion técnica).'' In 1588, he was intended have been part of a fleet which would support 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 ...

that was invading England. After the failure of invasion, he transported infantry troops to La Coruña and Lisbon, in preparation of an incoming English counter-offensive. In 1589, after the defeat of the

English Armada The English Armada (), also known as the Counter Armada, Drake–Norris Expedition, Portugal Expedition, was an attack fleet sent against Spain by Queen Elizabeth I of England that sailed on 28 April 1589 during the undeclared Anglo-Spanish W ...

, commanded by

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

, Alonso de Bazan went after the English fleet with his galleys and captured three vessels from Drake's retreating ships off Lisbon. In 1590, at the start of the Brittany Campaign he transported some Tercio troops from the peninsula to France to help the Catholics in their fight against the French Protestants. September 9, 1591, was the date of his greatest military action of his career: the Battle of Flores, where a fleet of 55 vessels he commanded fought and defeated the 22-ship fleet of

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, (24 August 1561 – 28 May 1626), of Audley End House in the parish of Saffron Walden in Essex, and of Suffolk House near Westminster, a member of the House of Howard, was the second son of Thomas Howard ...

, who was trying to capture the

Spanish treasure fleet The Spanish treasure fleet, or West Indies Fleet (, also called silver fleet or plate fleet; from the meaning "silver"), was a convoy system of sea routes organized by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790, which linked Spain with its Spanish Empi ...

. In 1592, however, Bazán was unsuccessful at catching English privateers at the second Battle of Flores. He was temporarily disgraced in the court for his defeat here. In 1594, in the Azores, he defeated another English fleet, led by the Earl of Cumberland, that was trying to attack the ships coming from America. In 1597, he took part in the victory against the failed English invasion known as the Essex-Raleigh Expedition. In 1604, he died, being replaced by Admiral Luis Fajardo in his position left as captain general of the Navy of the Ocean Sea.

References

16th-century Spanish people 17th-century Spanish people Spanish people of the Eighty Years' War People of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) {{Spain-mil-bio-stub