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{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{more footnotes|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Action of 7 July 1799
|partof=the [[Napoleonic Wars]]
|image=
|caption=
|date=7 July 1799
|place=[[Bay of Gibraltar]]
|result=Spanish victory
|combatant1={{flagicon|Spain|1785}} [[Spain]]
|combatant2={{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
|commander1=
|commander2= [[flag lieutenant|Flag-Lieut]]. [[Frederick Lewis Maitland (Royal Navy rear-admiral)|Frederick Maitland]] {{POW}}
|strength1=1 [[Frigate]] (34 guns)
|strength2=1 [[Cutter (boat)|Cutter]] (18 guns)
|casualties1=Unknown
|casualties2=1 [[Cutter (boat)|Cutter]] captured<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=GhSkN7WT_NgC David Steel p.43</ref>
}}
{{Campaignbox Second Coalition}}
{{Campaignbox French Revolutionary Wars: Anglo-Spanish War (1796)}}

The '''action of 7 July 1799''' was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars in which the Spanish 34-gun frigate ''Nuestra Señora del Carmen'' captured the [[Royal Navy]]'s 18-gun [[Hired armed vessels|Hired armed]] [[cutter (boat)|cutter]] [[Hired armed cutter Penelope|''Penelope'']], which was under the command of Sir [[Frederick Lewis Maitland (Royal Navy rear-admiral)|Frederick Maitland]].

==Background==
In June 1799, the French and Spanish fleets under Admirals [[Jose de Mazarredo y Salazar|Mazarredo]] and [[Étienne Eustache Bruix|Bruix]], amounting to forty sail of the line, and upwards of thirty frigates and smaller vessels, joined up at [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]]. On 7 July lookouts at [[Gibraltar]] saw the combined fleet close to the [[Barbary]] shore.

Some of the Spanish ships amused themselves by firing at two vessels belonging to the [[Algerine]]s.<ref name="Marshall384">Marshall p.384</ref> Admiral Jervis, [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|Earl of Saint Vincent]], who was on board the 44-gun ship {{HMS|Argo|1781|6}}, at anchor in the bay and on the eve of his departure for [[England]], sent Lieutenant Maitland in the ''Penelope'' to reconnoiter and ascertain the cause of the firing.<ref name="Marshall384"/> Maitland set sail towards [[Ceuta]].

==Action==
Anxious to gain the most accurate information, he stretched across the Gut with very light winds during the night, that was so pitchy dark and calm, that the cutter was unperceived by the combined fleet and so close among them, that the words of command in French and Spanish could be distinctly heard.

At daybreak on the 8th he found himself nearly within gunshot of the enemy's advanced ships, whose boats were instantly ordered by signal from the Spanish Admiral Mazarredo, to tow the ''Vivo'', a brig of 16 guns, alongside the ''Penelope''; but on their arrival within shot from the ''Penelope'', the reception she astonished them with was so spirited, that the Spaniards dropped astern again and retired, and a faint hope of escape appeared between the British sailors, for there being no wind, the cutter's boats were kept ahead all the forenoon, towing to the southward. Then every ship in that fleet, except one frigate, actually turned their heads to the southward to give chase to the cutter.

A breeze now springing up, the Spanish frigate ''Nuestra Señora del Carmen'', armed with 34 guns,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.todoababor.es/datos_docum/hist_fr_n.htm|title = Historia de las Fragatas de la Real Armada española (Por letra N)}}</ref> sailed up and placing herself about a cable's length on the cutter's weather-beam, fired a broadside. Maitland told his crew to lie down upon the deck till the frigate had discharged all her guns, but the frigate's fire was so heavy that it destroyed ''Penelope{{'}}''s rigging, rendering her unmanageable.<ref name="Marshall384"/>

When ''Penelope'' [[striking the colours|struck her colours]], an officer from the brig ''Vivo'' boarded and demanded that Lieutenant Maitland give up his sword. Maitland refused, stating that he had struck to the frigate. A boat from the ''Nuestra Señora del Carmen'' arrived shortly and sent away the boat from ''Vivo''. ''Penelope'' had on board a large sum of money, intended for [[Menorca]], that had not been unloaded in the rush quit Gibraltar. When her crew found there was no chance of escape from the combined fleets, they made an attempt to plunder the treasure, which Maitland prevented.<ref name="Marshall384"/>

{{cquote|When her crew found there was no chance of escape from the combined fleets, they made an attempt to plunder the treasure, which Lieutenant Maitland most honourably and successfully resisted, alleging that, as public property, it was lawful prize of the captors.<ref>A. Lloyd Moote, Louis XIII, the Just, p.180</ref>}}

A boat took Maitland to the [[first rate]] ''Principe de Asturias'', which bore the flag of Admiral [[Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoli|Gravina]]. The admiral received him into his cabin and treated him with the utmost kindness.

==Aftermath==
The day after his arrival at Cadiz, Admiral Mazarredo sent his captain to tell Maitland that the admiral was occupied in refitting his ships and so could not to see him. However, the admiral had stated that in a few days, when the combined fleet left port, Maitland would be released without an exchange for a Spanish officer held prisoner by the British.

When the fleet departed the Spanish returned Maitland to Gibraltar, as promised.<ref name="Marshall384"/> Maitland then accompanied St. Vincent when he returned to England in August 1799.<ref name="Marshall384"/>

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
;Bibliography
* Tucker, Jedediah Stephens. ''Memoirs Of Admiral, The Right Honorable, The Earl Of St. Vincent''
* {{cite RNB1823 |wstitle=Index |volume= |part= |page=}}

==External links==
* http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=1684
{{coord missing|Mediterranean}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:Conflicts in 1799]]
[[Category:Naval battles involving Great Britain]]
[[Category:Naval battles involving Spain]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:1790s in Gibraltar]]
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