Battle of Ponta Delgada

1582 CE.

Shown on the map at 38.644°, -27.653°.

The naval Battle of Vila Franca do Campo, also known as Battle of Ponta Delgada and Naval Battle of Terceira Island, took place on 26 July 1582, off the coast of the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, during the War of the Portuguese Succession. A combined corsair expedition, mainly French (a French, English and Dutch fleet with Portuguese forces included), sailed against a Spanish naval force made up of Portuguese and Castilian ships, to preserve control of the Azores under the pretender António, Prior of Crato and to defend the islands from incorporation into the Iberian Union, the largest French force sent overseas before the age of Louis XIV. In the first engagement between large fleets of carracks and galleons operating at great distances from the mainland, the mercenary fleet under Filippo di Piero Strozzi was severely defeated by a squadron under Álvaro de Bazán. The Spanish victory resulted in the rapid Spanish conquest of the Azores and completed the incorporation of Portugal into the Spanish Empire.

Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of Vila Franca do Campo, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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