Santa Teresa -Portuguese galleon (1637)
Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2024 9:46 am
Santa Teresa (English: Saint Teresa) was a 60-gun and 1,200-tonne Portuguese galleon, commanded by Admiral Lope de Hoces during the Battle of the Downs.
The galleon was built by Bento Francisco in Porto, and launched in 1637. It was armed with 60 guns, and it had 1,200 tons burthen. It is classified in some contemporaneous documents as a galleon, and as a carrack in others. The galleon was built with wood from Minho, about which, writing the General, D. Lope de Hoces to the King Philip IV, told him: "Were worthy of being guarded, like the Cerro de Potosà itself, those mountains in Portugal, where such wood was created." Bore comparison with her more famous contemporaries, the English HMS Sovereign of the Seas and the French Couronne, and in sea-going qualities probably surpassed both of them.
The ship had a very short life, and her most notable action was the Battle of the Downs. The Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish fleet was blockaded in the port of Downs. When they tried to break through De Oquendo's Royal Flagship, the Santiago, came out first followed by the Santa Teresa, the Portuguese flagship. Five blazing fireships were sent into the Spanish ships. The first Spanish ship could disengage and avoid three of the fireships at the last moment, but these hit the following Santa Teresa, who had just managed to repel the attack of the other two. Too big (the biggest ship in the Spanish/Portuguese fleet) and slow to manoeuvre, and with no time to react, the Santa Teresa was finally grappled and set on fire by one fire ship. With Admiral Lope de Hoces already dead from his wounds, she fiercely burned with great loss of life.
All contemporary accounts of the battle emphasize strength and beauty of Santa Teresa and her destruction by a Dutch fire ship forms the central theme of all contemporary paintings, prints and drawings relating to this famous action.
Nevis 2019; 5$
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ter ... cteristics, and other sites.
The galleon was built by Bento Francisco in Porto, and launched in 1637. It was armed with 60 guns, and it had 1,200 tons burthen. It is classified in some contemporaneous documents as a galleon, and as a carrack in others. The galleon was built with wood from Minho, about which, writing the General, D. Lope de Hoces to the King Philip IV, told him: "Were worthy of being guarded, like the Cerro de Potosà itself, those mountains in Portugal, where such wood was created." Bore comparison with her more famous contemporaries, the English HMS Sovereign of the Seas and the French Couronne, and in sea-going qualities probably surpassed both of them.
The ship had a very short life, and her most notable action was the Battle of the Downs. The Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish fleet was blockaded in the port of Downs. When they tried to break through De Oquendo's Royal Flagship, the Santiago, came out first followed by the Santa Teresa, the Portuguese flagship. Five blazing fireships were sent into the Spanish ships. The first Spanish ship could disengage and avoid three of the fireships at the last moment, but these hit the following Santa Teresa, who had just managed to repel the attack of the other two. Too big (the biggest ship in the Spanish/Portuguese fleet) and slow to manoeuvre, and with no time to react, the Santa Teresa was finally grappled and set on fire by one fire ship. With Admiral Lope de Hoces already dead from his wounds, she fiercely burned with great loss of life.
All contemporary accounts of the battle emphasize strength and beauty of Santa Teresa and her destruction by a Dutch fire ship forms the central theme of all contemporary paintings, prints and drawings relating to this famous action.
Nevis 2019; 5$
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ter ... cteristics, and other sites.