Battle of Cape Espartel
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Date September 29, 1936 Location Strait of Gibraltar, near Tangier, present-day Morocco Result Nationalist victory
Combatants
Spanish Republic	Nationalist Spain
Commanders
Unknown	Francisco Moreno
Strength
3 destroyers	2 heavy cruisers
Casualties
1 destroyer sunk 1 destroyer damaged	Unknown

The Battle of Cape Espartel was a naval battle of the Spanish Civil War that broke the Republican blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar, securing the naval supply route to Spanish Morocco for the Nationalists early in the war. The action erupted September 29, 1936 between two Nationalist cruisers and a squadron of Republican destroyers. The Republicans lost two ships to enemy fire and retreated to port, where they remained for most of the war. Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Strait of Gibraltar as seen from space (on the left: Spain) A view across the Strait of Gibraltar taken from the hills over Tarifa, Spain The Strait of Gibraltar (Arabic: مضيق جبل طارق, Spanish: Estrecho de Gibraltar) is the strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain... A view of Tangier bay at sunrise as seen from Cape Malabata Tangier - Avenue Mohammed VI Tangier (Tanja طنجة in Berber and Arabic, Tánger in Spanish, Tânger in Portuguese, and Tanger in French) is a city of northern Morocco with a population of 669,680 (2004 census). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Second_Spanish_Republic. ... Anthem El Himno de Riego Capital Madrid Language(s) Spanish Government Republic President  - 1931–1936 Niceto Alcalá-Zamora  - 1936–1939 Manuel Azaña Legislature Congress of Deputies Historical era Interwar period  - Monarchy abolished April 14, 1931  - Spanish Civil War 1936–1939  - Surrender to Franco April 1, 1939 Currency Spanish peseta... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain_under_Franco. ... Flag Motto Una Grande Libre Anthem Marcha Real Capital Madrid Language(s) Spanish Religion Roman Catholic Church Government Monarchy Head of State¹  - 1939-1975 Francisco Franco  - 1975-1978 Juan Carlos I Legislature Cortes Generales Historical era Cold War  - Spanish Civil War 1936-1939  - Republic defeated April 4, 1939  - Death of... Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Cándido Cabello José Moscardó Ituarte Strength 8,000 militia 1,028 regulars and militia Casualties Unknown 65 dead 438 wounded 22 missing The Siege of the Alcázar was a highly symbolic battle in the opening stages of the Spanish Civil War. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Manuel Otero Antonio Pinilla † Strength Unknown 180 regulars and militia Casualties Unknown 180 dead or wounded The Siege of Gijón took place in the Spanish Civil War between July 19 and August 16, 1936. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Popular Front militia units CNT-FAI UGT Nationalist Spain Commanders UGT miner, Otero CNT Steelworker, Higinio Carrocera Colonel Antonio Aranda Mata Strength Unknown 3000 Casualties Over 5,000 2,500 // A memorable event in the Spanish Civil War, the siege lasted from July 19, 1936, until... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Unknown Carlos Asensio Heli Rolando de Tella Strength 2,600 militia 1,000 regulars Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Mérida was contested early in the Spanish Civil War when Republican militia twice attempted to halt the Army of Africa near the... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Alberto Bayo Manuel Uribarri García Ruiz Strength 8,000 militia 10 guns 3,500 regulars and militia Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Mallorca, known as the Mallorca Landings in Spanish (optimistically called the Reconquest of Mallorca by the Republicans) was a... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Ildefonso Puigdendolas Juan Yagüe Carlos Asensio Antonio Castejón Strength 6,000 militia 3,000 regulars 30 guns Casualties 750 dead 3,500 wounded, captured or missing 285 dead or wounded The Battle of Badajoz was one of the first major Nationalist... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Manuel Riquelme André Malraux Juan Yagüe Carlos Asensio Antonio Castejón Heli Rolando de Tella Strength 9,000 regulars and militia 4,000 regulars Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe (English: Guadalupe Mountains), also the Tagus Campaign, was a... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Mario Angeloni † Unknown Strength Unknown 500 regulars Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Monte Pelato (Bald Mountain) was an engagement of the Spanish Civil War fought on 28 August 1936. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Manuel Riquelme Juan Yagüe Strength 10,000 regulars and militia 3,500 regulars Casualties 500 dead 1,000 captured 1,000 dead or wounded The Battle of Talavera de la Reina was fought on September 3, 1936 in the Spanish Civil War. ... The Siege of Madrid was a three year siege of the Spanish capital Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. ... The Battle of the Corunna Road was a battle of the Spanish Civil War from 13 December 1936 to 15 January 1937, north west of Madrid. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders José Villalba Lacorte Queipo de Llano Mario Roatta Strength 40,000 militia 10,000 Moors 5,000 Requetés 5,000 Italians Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Málaga was the culmination of an offensive in early 1937 by the combined Nationalist... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders José Miaja, Sebastián Pozas Perea, Enrique Líster, Valentín González, Robert Merriman Enrique Varela, García Escámez, Carlos Asensio, Fernándo Barrón Ortiz Strength ~30,000 infantry, (June 15)[1] 19,000–40,000 infantry, ~40 guns[2... The Guadalajara Offensive (8 March – 23 March 1937) was an engagement in the Spanish Civil War. ... The bombing of Guernica was an aerial attack on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War by planes of the German Luftwaffe Condor Legion and subordinate Italian Fascists from the Corpo Truppe Volontarie expeditionary force organized as Aviazione Legionaria. ... Combatants Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Strength  ?  ? Casualties ~? ~? The Battle of Bilbao was part of the War in the North, in the Spanish Civil War where the Nationalist Army conquered Bilbao and the part of the Basque Country still held by the Republic. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Mariano Gamir Ulibarri Fidel Dávila Arrondo Strength 80,000 infantry 90,000 infantry 126 guns 220 aircraft Casualties 60,000 dead, wounded, or captured Unknown The Battle of Santander was fought over the summer of 1937 in the Spanish Civil War. ... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Enrique Líster Alfonso Trallero † Strength 80,000 infantry 105 tanks 90 aircraft 7,000 infantry Casualties Unknown Unknown Battle of Belchite was a group of military operations that took place in the Spanish Civil War between august 24 and september 7, 1937... Combatants Asturian popular army (Second Spanish Republic) Army of the North (Nationalist Spain) Commanders Colonel Juan Ibarrola Orueta Colonel Francisco Galán Rodríguez General José Solchaga Zala Strength under 5,000 33,000, plus elements of the Legión Cóndor and Corpo Truppe Volontarie Casualties Unknown Unknown The... Combatants Second Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Unknown Unknown Strength 2 cruisers 4 destroyers 1 heavy cruiser Casualties Unknown 1 ship damaged The Battle of Cape Cherchell was a sea battle between the Nationalist heavy cruiser Baleares and the Republican light cruisers Libertad and Méndez Núñez in the... A Republican soldier seeks cover on the Plaza de Toros in Teruel, north-east of Madrid The battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel in the Spanish Civil War in December 1937-February 1938. ... The Battle of Cape Palos, also known as the Second Battle of Cape Palos, was the biggest naval battle of the Spanish Civil War, fought on the night of March 5 - 6 1938, 70 miles east of Cape Palos near Cartagena, Spain. ... Combatants Spanish Republic Nationalist Spain Commanders Juan Modesto Enrique Lister Queipo de Llano Francisco Franco Strength 100,000 90,000 Casualties 30,000 dead 20,000 wounded 19,563 captured 200 aircraft 6,500 dead 30,000 wounded 5,000 captured The Battle of the Ebro (Spanish: Batalla del Ebro... The outbreak of war can be seen to be the uprising in Morocco on July 17 triggered by events in Madrid. ... This article covers the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) during 1937. ... This article covers the Spanish Civil War in the period from the start of 1938 to the end of 1939. ... Not to be confused with the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823. ... Anthem El Himno de Riego Capital Madrid Language(s) Spanish Government Republic President  - 1931–1936 Niceto Alcalá-Zamora  - 1936–1939 Manuel Azaña Legislature Congress of Deputies Historical era Interwar period  - Monarchy abolished April 14, 1931  - Spanish Civil War 1936–1939  - Surrender to Franco April 1, 1939 Currency Spanish peseta... A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies, troops, information or aid from reaching an opposing force. ... The Strait of Gibraltar as seen from space (on the left: Spain) A view across the Strait of Gibraltar taken from the hills over Tarifa, Spain The Strait of Gibraltar (Arabic: مضيق جبل طارق, Spanish: Estrecho de Gibraltar) is the strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain... Spanish Morocco, was the area of Morocco ruled by Spain from up to 1956, when France and Spain recognised Moroccan independence. ... The Spanish State (Estado Español) was the formal name of Spain from 1936 to 1978, under the régime of Generalísimo Francisco Franco (d. ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser (really an uprated guided missile destroyer), launched in 1992. ... USS McFaul underway in the Atlantic Ocean. ...

Background

The Nationalist conspirators at Ferrol had been able to seize the city's naval base in July, but at a large cost to the Spanish Navy: Over thirty officers had been shot by hundreds of mutinous sailors, loyal to the Revolution, that were imprisoned afterwards or killed in the fighting. Ferrol can refer to: EUROPE Ferrol, Spain City and Naval Station in North Western Spain, European Union Note: Place of birth of both Francisco Franco (1892) the Spanish dictator and Pablo Iglesias (1850) founder of PSOE and UGT. ASIA Ferrol, Romblon Small Town in the Philippines Note: The Philippines got... Modern Naval Tactics It is tempting to regard modern naval combat as the purest expression of tactics. ... The Spanish Navy (in Spanish, Armada Española) is the maritime arm of the Spanish Military. ... In military organizations, an officer is a member of the service who holds a position of responsibility. ...

Their prize included the ageing battleship España, the cruisers Almirante Cervera and the unfinished Canarias, and a number of torpedo boats and sloops. In September a small squadron, including the Almirante Cervera and Canarias, steamed from Ferrol to engage the Republican navy. For other uses, see Battleship (disambiguation). ... Spain is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament, the Cortes Generales or National Assembly. ... Capitals Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Santa Cruz de Tenerife Area  – Total  – % of Spain Ranked 13th  7 447 km²  1,5% Population  – Total (2003)  – % of Spain  – Density Ranked 8th  1 843 755  4,4%  247,58/km² Demonym  – English  – Spanish  Canary Islander  canario... A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to launch torpedoes at larger surface ships. ... A sloop-rigged J-24 sailboat A sloop (From Dutch sloep) in sailing, is a vessel with a fore-and-aft rig. ...

The battle

The Nationalists attacked a squadron of Republican destroyers stationed near Cape Espartel on the western end of the Straits. A fantastically bitter exchange of fire followed during which the destroyer Almirante Ferrándiz was sunk and the Gravina was blackened and wrecked. The surviving Republican destroyer retreated.

References

• Hugh Thomas (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Modern Library. ISBN 0-375-75515-2. 

Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (born October 21, 1931 in Windsor), is a British historian. ...

External links

• Summary of Major Campaigns and Offensives