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Spirit of Revenge
May. 15th, 2008 05:03 pmIf anybody personifies the undying spirit that made Great Britain the greatest power she used to be, it would be Sir Richard Grenville.
On 7 September 1591, as Captain of HMS Revenge he commanded a 15-hour one-against-fifty three battle with a Spanish squadron of 53 ships dispatched to the Flores (Azores) to clear the English under Admiral Howard who were waiting for the Spanish treasure fleet. The English ships were undergoing repairs, and a lot of the crew were sick with fever, depleting the Revenge's crew number by 95. Admiral Howard and his five ships of the line managed to withdraw. Grenville chose to wait for his crew that was onshore and then drove through the Spanish line.
The fight lasted 15 hours, through the night, during which the lone Revenge managed to heavily damage fifteen Spanish galleons, sinking two, and continuously repealing "with savage gunnery" boarding attempts , including one from San Philip, the Spanish flagship three times the size of the Revenge (1500 tons to her 500).
When it was over, the Revenge was almost completely destroyed, with her masts blown off, and only sixteen of the crew left standing. Gravely wounded Grenville then ordered the ship to be blown up so as not to be taken by the Spaniards. The officers and crew, however, disagreed and negotiated a surrender on condition of good treatment, making the Revenge the only ship ever taken this way by the Spaniards during Elizabethan conflicts.
Grenville died two days later aboard the Spanish flagship. He was buried at sea with full honors.
The ship, however, lived fully up to its name. An intense storm hit the returning Spanish squadron and the Revenge sunk, along with 200 of the Spanish prize crew. Sixteen other Spanish ships went down along with her.
Lord Alfred Tennyson has written a poem about this, The Revenge
On 7 September 1591, as Captain of HMS Revenge he commanded a 15-hour one-against-fifty three battle with a Spanish squadron of 53 ships dispatched to the Flores (Azores) to clear the English under Admiral Howard who were waiting for the Spanish treasure fleet. The English ships were undergoing repairs, and a lot of the crew were sick with fever, depleting the Revenge's crew number by 95. Admiral Howard and his five ships of the line managed to withdraw. Grenville chose to wait for his crew that was onshore and then drove through the Spanish line.
The fight lasted 15 hours, through the night, during which the lone Revenge managed to heavily damage fifteen Spanish galleons, sinking two, and continuously repealing "with savage gunnery" boarding attempts , including one from San Philip, the Spanish flagship three times the size of the Revenge (1500 tons to her 500).
When it was over, the Revenge was almost completely destroyed, with her masts blown off, and only sixteen of the crew left standing. Gravely wounded Grenville then ordered the ship to be blown up so as not to be taken by the Spaniards. The officers and crew, however, disagreed and negotiated a surrender on condition of good treatment, making the Revenge the only ship ever taken this way by the Spaniards during Elizabethan conflicts.
Grenville died two days later aboard the Spanish flagship. He was buried at sea with full honors.
The ship, however, lived fully up to its name. An intense storm hit the returning Spanish squadron and the Revenge sunk, along with 200 of the Spanish prize crew. Sixteen other Spanish ships went down along with her.
Lord Alfred Tennyson has written a poem about this, The Revenge