Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a naval battle took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the Anglo-Spanish War. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle because it was unusual for naval battles in the Age of Sail to take place at night. It was also the first major naval victory for the British over their European enemies in the war and proved the value of copper-sheathing
Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1719) frigate and a sloop few days before the battle, forced the British fleet to withdrew to Gibraltar with about 40 casualties after 5 hours of combat, arriving to Cádiz on 2 January 1720. Pedro Messía de la Cerda, future captain of the ship of the line "Glorioso" during his famous voyage carrying gold from the Spanish Main to Spain and Viceroy of New Granada, took part in the action aboard one of the Spanish ships. Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1719) The Battle of Cape St Vincent was a minor naval engagement of the War of the Quadruple Alliance, fought