Battle of Cape Espartel
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- For the 1782 American Revolutionary War naval battle, see Battle of Cape Spartel.
| Spanish Civil War |
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| Alcázar – Mérida – Badajoz – Sierra Guadalupe – Cape Espartel – Madrid – Corunna Road – Málaga – Jarama – Guadalajara – Guernica – Brunete – Belchite – El Mazuco – Cape Cherchell – Teruel – Cape Palos – Ebro Chronology: 1936 1937 1938-9 |
The Battle of Cape Espartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the naval supply route to Spanish Morocco for the Nationalists early in the war. The action erupted September 29, 1936 between two Nationalist cruisers and a squadron of Republican destroyers. The Republicans lost two ships to enemy fire and retreated to port, where they remained for most of the war.
Background
The Nationalist conspirators at El Ferrol had been able to seize the city's naval base in July, but at a large cost to the Spanish Navy: Over thirty officers had been shot, while hundreds of mutinous sailors, loyal to the Republic, were imprisoned or killed in the fighting.
Their prize included the battleship España, the cruisers Almirante Cervera and Canarias, and a number of torpedo boats and sloops. In September a small squadron, including the Almirante Cervera and Canarias, steamed from El Ferrol to engage the Republican navy.
The battle
The Nationalists attacked a squadron of Republican destroyers stationed near Cape Espartel on the western end of the Straits. A fantastically bitter exchange of fire followed during which the destroyer Almirante Ferrándiz was sunk and the Gravina was blackened and wrecked. The surviving Republican destroyer retreated.
References
External links
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