Year 1702: the most treacherous stab of the ‘Royal Navy’ to steal a treasure from Spain

2024-01-19 09:37:45
He did not enjoy the lights and confetti of Horatio Nelson, but it is difficult to deny that Admiral George Rooke brought some headaches to our old Spain during the War of Succession. Gouty personally, unlucky professionally, this Briton sailed from debacle to debacle in the waters until the calendar marked the year 1702. It was then when, after crashing into the defenses of Cádiz, he took advantage of the arrival of a fleet loaded from the Indies to do what the ‘Royal Navy’ knew best at that time: take advantage of the weakness, attack treacherously and open its hand so that its men could plunder and loot every last coin from those vessels in the waters of Vigo. But let’s go step by step. While Rooke fought with balls against the brave soldiers and militiamen of Cádiz, on the other side of the world an army, the Indies, began its return trip to Spain from the Americas filled to the brim with riches. And its destination could not be more difficult: Andalusia. Related News standard Yes Myths, legends and truths about medicine on Spanish warships of the 19th century Manuel P. Villatoro The most common thing was that the infirmary was run by a surgeon-doctor in charge of fighting against the slightest ailments to return the sailors to combat “Having loaded in Veracruz the merchandise detained since the end of the previous reign, with the funds belonging to the King and private to the trade, he undertook the return to Spain on June 11, 1702 without news of what had happened in his absence,” explains Cesáreo Fernández Duro in his magnum opus, and a must-see when narrating naval battles, ‘History of the Spanish Navy since the union of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon’. Hunt and plunder Although the twenty ships of the fleet were escorted by 23 French vessels under the command of Vice-Admiral Cháteau-Renault, the fear that the silver extracted in America would end up in British power caused the plans to change drastically and these « “armored vans” will change direction. Their new destination was Vigo, whose port they entered on September 22. “The warships anchored in the pass formed by the points of Rande and Corbeyro, a channel of about three-quarters of a mile, defended by two forts, rather ancient towers,” adds Duro. More than quickly, several cannons were dismantled and moved to these positions to reinforce them. Additionally, the militias were called in and a metal chain was placed at the entrance to the bay to prevent enemies from gaining access while the money was unloaded. Time was pressing, very much so. When the English admiral found out that the Indies fleet had ended up in Vigo, he did not hesitate and directed his ships there to try to plunder it like a privateer. At this point history and legend mix. While some experts claim that our people did not have time to unload the riches, the most widespread opinion is that most of them had already been taken off the ships when Rooke arrived. «In ten days the registration silver, in currency or ingots, was brought to the land, loading it into carts that made two trips to Pontevedra; others took it from there to the Padrón, and in the third transfer to Lugo, by stopovers, with infantry and cavalry guard,” Duro completes. Beyond the version, what is true is that a part of the riches stayed in the ships. On October 22, Rooke arrived at port with his 150 sails and a terrible desire to make up for not having taken Cádiz. For its part, the Franco-Spanish fleet only had 45 ships, approximately half of them warships. Quick Battle The battle was quick. On the 23rd, the English and Dutch landed their elite infantry through Theis Cove and Domayo Beach early in the morning. The chain was then destroyed, in Duro’s words, by “two 90-gun ships that made way for all the Allied squadrons.” From that moment on, the admiral had nothing to do but dismast his enemies at a ridiculous distance. Those that remained, at least, since Cháteau-Renault had already decided to “burn ships and galleons so that they would be of no use.” According to Duro’s figures, they captured “9 French and 11 Spanish ships.” Then the plundering of the British began, who had been dreaming for days of obtaining Spanish riches. Their divers, eager, dedicated themselves to plundering the shipwrecks, while the infantry preferred plundering the coast. They were joined by another English army dedicated to patrolling the region. “On the 28th, Shovel’s squadron appeared near the Cíes Islands, and was called to the port by Sir Jorge Rooke so that he could stay there to collect objects,” Duro highlights. The victory was considered absolute by the British, who came out, in the words of the Spanish author, “blowing their trumpets in joy” and celebrated “the triumph with civic and religious festivals, exaggerating it a bit.” Although the defeat was devastating on a psychological level, reality, supported by current studies, affirms that the majority of the treasure, more than 13 million pesos, arrived satisfactorily in Segovia, and that the British and Dutch barely They made it with 90,000 pesos. However, thanks to Rooke, the legend that the bay is full of riches continues to spread today. Related News standard Yes Genius or madness? What they don’t tell you about the hell that Hannibal experienced when crossing the Alps Manuel P. Villatoro standard Yes The cursed explosion: they discover a century later the “colossal error” that condemned the English in the battle of the Somme Manuel P. Villatoro “The men They have been fierce for three centuries in the conquest of the prodigious site; some have brought galleons empty of their original contents to the surface; others have rummaged through some boxes of piasters; others still dig, armed with all the instruments of modern technology. But the sea defends its treasures, which some value at 200,000,000,000 gold, which is resolutely optimistic,” says the controversial writer Robert Charroux in his book ‘Hidden Treasures’.
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