Pieter Hein Captures the Spanish Silver Fleet (1628)

Timeline

1. 1628Atlantic and Caribbean waters · CaribbeanIn 1628 the Dutch West India Company dispatched an expedition fleet of 31 ships with Pieter Hein as admiral; sailing from the Netherlands via the Azores into the Caribbean, it preyed on Spanish transports and ports, awaiting a chance to intercept the annual silver fleet.
2. 1628Matanzas Bay · CubaOn Sep 5, the Spanish silver fleet returning from the New World was stranded on the shoals of Matanzas Bay by grounding and coordination failures; Pieter Hein led the Dutch in a small-boat assault, capturing virtually the entire fleet with almost no resistance, taking silver equivalent to some 90 million pesos, sugar, cocoa, and pearls—the richest prize in Dutch naval history.
3. 1628–1629Amsterdam · North HollandThe Dutch shipped the spoils back to Europe in batches, reaching Amsterdam in early 1629; WIC shareholders and the republican government received huge dividends, Pieter Hein was hailed as a national hero, Spanish finances and credit suffered a heavy blow, and European powers reassessed Dutch sea power.