Battle
At dawn on the 18th, the Mary Rose sighted seven Algerine men of war. The Mary Rose immediately prepared for action, clearing the decks in order to work the guns, taking on the prize-crew of the King David and abandoning her to be driven by the wind, and throwing overboard anything that might prove a hindrance. The Algerine ships passed near noon; one of the prisoners, a Dutchman, identified them as the Golden Lion, Orange Tree, Half Moon, Seven Stars, White Horse, Blewhart, and Rose Leaf. The Half Moon, not built for speed and also loaded down with men, fell behind, and the others sent two boats to tow her; Admiral Kempthorne sent out a boat to intercept theirs, but the Algerines sent out another boat, well-armed, and Kempthorne recalled the English boat.
The Algerine ships stood close together, and around 3:00 six of them attacked the Mary Rose, while the Rose Leaf chased the abandoned King David. Hollar described "a hot Service, and much harm done on both sides," until night fell and the Algerine ships retired.
Early the next morning the two groups engaged again. The Algerines approached in a line from the southeast: the Half Moon was first, and she and subsequent ships fired, both with broadsides from the ships' guns and with small-arms, on the Mary Rose before steering away to the northeast. According to Hollar's account, Mary Rose replied firing every other gun, in order to be able to keep up a consistent fire on all the approaching ships. Golden Lion, the Algerine flagship, was in the rear, intending to board. However, the Mary Rose hit her hull below the waterline with one shot and destroyed her mainsail with another, and she, along with the other Algerines, retreated.
During the battle, the French and Scottish merchantmen escaped; a number of Jews and Armenians aboard the pink, according to Hollar, attempted to take the ship over to the Algerines, but the latter mistook it for a fire ship sent by the English to destroy them, and the attempt failed when the squadron retreated.
The English casualties were twelve killed and eighteen wounded; according to Owen Hurst, the Mary Rose had all three masts damaged, and her mainmast, foremast, and both topmast yards disabled.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Cádiz (1669)
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