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Sack of Cádiz

Type Event Region Spain Time 1596

From late June to early July 1596, an English-Dutch fleet under the Earl of Essex and Lord Howard raided the southern Spanish port of Cádiz, burning …

Timeline

  1. 1596Bay of Cádiz · AndalusiaAbout 150 English and Dutch warships appeared off the Bay of Cádiz, where Spanish coastal defenses were poorly prepared. Using dawn fog as cover, Essex landed with infantry, quickly broke through the weak defenses, and advanced toward the city.
  2. 1596Port of Cádiz · SpainThe English burned port warehouses, shipbuilding facilities, and many merchant ships at anchor, seizing silver, wine, and supplies. Spanish defenders and militia organized a counterattack but could not prevent the destruction; parts of the city were set ablaze, causing extremely heavy economic losses.
  3. 1596–1597Southern coast of Spain · SpainThe sack severely weakened the function of Spain's naval base in Andalusia, forcing the planned second Armada expedition against England that autumn to be postponed. Philip II hurried to rebuild the fleet at La Coruña and elsewhere, but shortages of supplies and organizational chaos caused the expedition to fail again in 1597.

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