The galleon "Santa Luzia", by Alberto Cutileiro.
History
Portugal
NameSanta Luzia
NamesakeSaint Lucy
General characteristics
TypeGalleon
Tons burthen360 tonnes
Armament30 guns

Santa Luzia was a 30-gun and 360-tonne Portuguese galleon, known for defeating a Dutch squadron single-handedly twice in 1650.[1][2][3][4]

Service history

Santa Luzia was probably built for the General Company of Brazil.[2]

On 21 February 1650, off Cape St. Augustine, Santa Luzia, under the command of Bernardo Ramires Esquível, was attacked by a squadron of nine Dutch ships, under the command of Caspar Govertsz Cop.[1][3][4] Santa Luzia defended himself with a violent artillery duel, that lasted until the night.[1][3][4] After the combat, Santa Luzia anchored near the coast, in order to take care of the wounded and repair the damage suffered.[1][3][4]

On 22 February, in the morning, the combat returned. Maneuvering ably, Esquível didn't cease fire on the Dutch ships that dared to approach Santa Luzia, causing a lot of damage and casualties.[1][3][4] Possibly because they didn't have enough soldiers, the Dutch ships didn't attempt to board Santa Luzia.[3] By the mid-afternoon, having come to the conclusion that Santa Luzia was impossible to defeat, Cop put an end to the fight by retreating to the north.[1][3][4]

Santa Luzia's fate after this is unknown.[2]

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fonseca, Henrique Alexandre da (September 1978). "Os Esquíveis: Dois Notáveis Oficiais da Armada" (PDF). Revista da Armada: 308–311.
  2. 1 2 3 Esparteiro 1976, p. 4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Saturnino Monteiro 1996, p. 293.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Donato 1996, p. 223.

Bibliography

  • Esparteiro, António Marques (1976). Catálogo dos Navios Brigantinos (PDF) (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Centro de Estudos da Marinha.
  • Saturnino Monteiro, Armando da Silva (1996). Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa (PDF) (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Livraria Sá da Costa.
  • Donato, Hernâni (1996). Dicionário das Batalhas Brasileiras (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Instituição Brasileira de Difusão Cultural.
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