Battle in the Bay of Matanzas
Battle in the Bay of Matanzas | |||||||
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Part of the Eighty Years' War | |||||||
Piet Hein capturing the Spanish silver fleet during the battle. The Story of New Netherland (1909). | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Provinces | Spain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Piet Hein Witte de With | Juan de Benavides Bazán | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
31 vessels | 21 vessels | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
No casualties | 12 vessels captured Minimal casualties |
- v
- t
- e
Western Europe
- Beeldenstorm
- Valenciennes
- Wattrelos
- Lannoy
- Oosterweel
- Dahlen
- Heiligerlee
- Jemmingen
- Jodoigne
- Le Quesnoy
Western Europe
- Brielle
- Mons
- 1st Mechelen
- Goes
- Naarden
- Middelburg
- Haarlem
- IJsselmeer
- Alkmaar
- 1st Geertruidenberg
- Leiden
- Delft
- Valkenburg
- Mookerheyde
- Oudewater
- Schoonhoven
- Zierikzee
- European waters
- Flushing
- Borsele
- Haarlemmermeer
- Zuiderzee
- Reimerswaal
- Lillo
Western Europe
- 1st Antwerp
- Gembloux
- Rijmenam
- 1st Deventer
- Borgerhout
Western Europe
- 1st Maastricht
- 2nd Mechelen
- Diest
- 1st Steenwijk
- Kollum
- 1st Breda
- Noordhorn
- Niezijl
- Lochem
- 1st Lier
- 2nd Antwerp
- Eindhoven
- Steenbergen
- Ghent
- Aalst
- 3rd Antwerp
- Arnhem
- Empel
- Boksum
- 1st Grave
- 1st Venlo
- Axel
- Neuss
- 1st Rheinberg
- 1st Zutphen
- 1st Sluis
- European waters
- Ten Years, 1588–1598
Western Europe
- 1st Bergen op Zoom
- 2nd Geertruidenberg
- 2nd Breda
- 2nd Zutphen
- 2nd Deventer
- Delfzijl
- Knodsenburg
- 1st Hulst
- Nijmegen
- Rouen
- Caudebec
- 2nd Steenwijk
- 1st Coevorden
- 1st Luxemburg
- 3rd Geertruidenberg
- 2nd Coevorden
- Groningen
- 2nd Luxemburg
- Huy
- 1st Groenlo
- Lippe
- 2nd Lier
- Calais
- 2nd Hulst
- Turnhout
- 2nd Rheinberg
- 1st Meurs
- 2nd Groenlo
- Bredevoort
- Enschede
- Ootmarsum
- 1st Oldenzaal
- 1st Lingen
- European waters
Western Europe
- 1st Schenckenschans
- Zaltbommel
- Rees
- San Andreas
- Lekkerbeetje
- Nieuwpoort
- 3rd Rheinberg
- Ostend
- 1st 's-Hertogenbosch
- 2nd Grave
- Hoogstraaten
- 3rd Sluis
- 2nd Lingen
- 4th Rheinberg
- 3rd Groenlo
- European waters
- Dover Strait
- 2nd Sluis
- 2nd English Channel
- 1st Cape St. Vincent
- 1st Gibraltar
- Twelve Years' Truce, 1609–1621
Western Europe
- Aachen
East Indies
Western Europe
- Jülich
- 2nd Bergen op Zoom
- Fleurus
- 3rd Breda
- 2nd Oldenzaal
- 4th Groenlo
- 2nd 's-Hertogenbosch
- Meuse (2nd Maastricht, 2nd Venlo, 1st Roermond)
- 5th Rheinberg
- Leuven
- 2nd Schenkenschans
- 4th Breda
- 3rd Venlo
- 2nd Roermond
- Kallo
- 3rd Hulst
- 4th Hulst
European waters
- 2nd Gibraltar
- 2nd Cádiz
- Slaak
- Lizard Point
- Dunkirk
- 3rd English Channel
- The Downs
- 2nd Cape St. Vincent
Americas
- 1st Salvador
- Puerto Rico
- Bay of Matanzas
- Abrolhos
- Trujillo · Campeche
- 1st Saint Martin
- 2nd Salvador
- Cabañas
- Itamaracá
- Southern Chile
- 2nd Saint Martin
East Indies
The Battle in the Bay of Matanzas was a naval battle in Cuba during the Eighty Years' War in which a Dutch squadron was able to defeat and capture a Spanish treasure fleet.
Overview
In 1628, Admiral Piet Hein, with Witte de With as his flag captain, sailed out to capture the Spanish treasure fleet loaded with silver from their American colonies. With him was Admiral Hendrick Lonck, and he was later joined by a squadron of Vice-Admiral Joost Banckert. Part of the Spanish fleet in Venezuela had been warned because a Dutch cabin boy had lost his way on Blanquilla and was captured, betraying the plan, but the other half from Mexico continued its voyage, unaware of the threat. Sixteen Spanish ships were intercepted: one galleon was taken after a surprise encounter during the night, nine smaller merchantmen were talked into surrendering; two small ships were overtaken at sea, and four fleeing galleons were trapped on the Cuban coast in the Bay of Matanzas. After some musket volleys from Dutch sloops, these ships also surrendered.
Altogether, Hein captured 11,509,524 guilders (half a billion Euros in today's money; £1 million using sterling/guilder exchange rates in the 1620s) of booty in gold, silver, and expensive trade goods, such as indigo and cochineal, without any bloodshed. The Dutch didn't keep their prisoners: they gave the Spanish crews ample supplies for a march to Havana. The released men were surprised to hear the admiral personally giving them directions in fluent Spanish; Hein after all was well acquainted with the language as he had been a Spanish prisoner after 1603. The taking of the treasure was the Dutch West India Company's greatest victory in the Caribbean.
Aftermath
The money funded the Dutch army for eight months, allowing it to capture the fortress 's-Hertogenbosch, and the shareholders enjoyed a cash dividend of 50% for that year. Hein returned to the Netherlands in 1629, where he was hailed as a hero. Watching the crowds cheering him standing on the balcony of the town hall of Leiden he remarked to the town mayor: "Now they praise me because I gained riches without the least danger; but earlier when I risked my life in full combat they didn't even know I existed." He was the first and last to capture such a large part of a Spanish "silver fleet" from the Americas, these fleets being very well-protected.
23°20′00″N 81°34′00″W / 23.3333°N 81.5667°W / 23.3333; -81.5667