The attack on Teneriffe in April 1657

The Spanish Plate fleet was known to have anchored at Teneriffe, and Robert Blake intended to capture it there. The English Mediterranean force sailed for Teneriffe and arrived there on 18 April 1657. Saturday was a foggy day, so the attack was delayed to be delayed until the 20th. In the end, they attacked on Monday morning.

There was a strained council of war on board Blake's flagship, and he selected 12 ships to attack. He hoped to repeat the successful assault on Porto Farina. The ships chosen were the Speaker (Richard Stayner), Lyme (John Stokes), Langport (John Coppin), Newbury (Robert Blake, the younger), Bridgwater (Anthony Earning), Plymouth (uncertain captain), Worcester (Robert Nixon), Centurion (Anthony Spatchurst), Winsby (Joseph Ames), Newcastle (Edmund Curtis), Foresight (Peter Mootham), and Maidstone (perhaps Thomas Adams). In addition, the Nantwich (uncertain captain) joined late, along with the Plymouth. They had missed the council of war.

The town of Santa Cruz lay behind the roadstead and the shore was lined with forts and gun emplacements. There was a long mole for unloading ships, and there was a natural barrier behind which ships could safely shelter. The English believed that there were 16 ships in total, with 7 large galleaons being the prize. The actual plate fleet consisted of two warships and nine armed merchantmen, so there must have been five other ships, besides.

There was a semicircle of 10 ships in the lower bay, opposite Santa Cruz. The six largest ships were anchored at the entrance. Blake lead the attack on the forts while Richard Stayner lead the attack on the 6 large galleons. All the Spanish ships were taken, and Blake ordered the prized be burnt, as they were under heavy fire from the forts. Stayner's ship, the Speaker, was disabled. The English lost 40 men killed and 110 wounded. The offshore wind which made the attack so perilous aided the English escape back to Cadiz.

Sources:

1. R. C. Anderson, List of English Naval Captains 1642-1660, 1964.
2. Michael Baumber, General-at-Sea, 1989.
3. William Laird Clowes, The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Present, Vol.II, 1898.