Jose de Mazarredo y Salazar
Encyclopedia
Don
Jose de Mazarredo y Salazar de Muñatones Cortázar Order of Santiago
(Bilbao
1745 – Madrid
, 1812) was a Spanish
Basque naval commander
, cartographer, ambassador
, astronomer
and professor
of naval tactics
. He is considered to be one of the best Spanish naval commanders of all time.
Andaluz.
After 12 years of service in the Spanish navy, and by the good concept his superiors had to him, he was made assistant of the maritime department of Cartagena
.
In 1772 Don Mazarredo went to the Philippines
aboard the Frigate Venus, but in 1774 he was transferred to the frigate
Rosalía and took part in a hydrographic campaign South America.
In 1775 he took part of the Spanish attack on Algiers. The plans of navigation, anchorage and disembarkation of the twenty thousand men of the Spanish army were made by him. Shortly after, Don Mazarredo developed a tabular system for the use of the Spanish Navy. In 1778, as commander of the ship of the line
San Juan Bautista, he realised hydrographic surveys in the Iberian Peninsula
, contributing to the creation of a Maritime Atlas
.
with a system of tactics divised by him, Teniente de navío de la Real Armada, and expounded in Rudimentos de Táctica Naval para Instruction de los Officiales Subalternos de Marina, printed at Madrid in 1776, dedicated to King Charles III. Despite bearing some evidence of the influence of Paul Hoste and Sébastien Morogues
, this is a text book for junior officers, though it could clearly have been read with profit by all alike. In common with the French writers, Mazarredo said very little about fighting the enemy. Broady speaking, his tone was sophisticated and undogmatic.
Mazarredo did introduce a new sea-warfare idea, the use of fireships by the windward fleet, if threatened with doubling as a means of covering its retreat to windward. Salazar also showed himself an innovator in his treatment of breaking the enemy line. He poroposed that, when the fleet was to windward, the centre should break through the enemy centre. In the process of breaking through, the enemy's centre ships immediately astern of the break would be forced away to leeward, so disorganising the neemy rear and isolating it. Meanwhile, the enemy van would have no choice but to stand on to avoid being put between two fires, and it would thus become completely separated from the remaineder of the fleet.
Exactly the same movement might be executed from leeward, though in that case the enemy's rear would be forced to give way to windawrd, thus exposing itself to the fire of the centre and rear ships of the attacking fleet. Mazarredo also drew up a signal book, specifically for Córdova's
fleet, which was printed in 1781. It was used in the operations against Minorca and Gibraltar, and it does not seem unreasonable that Córdova's signalling system was somewhat similar when he first joined comte d'Orvilliers
in 1778. Mazarredo's signal book of 1781 is an improvement on Chevalier du Pavillon's
. Like the latter, it employed a tabular system, but much less complex. It employed tables 20 yby 20, each permitting 400 signals.
This signal book was prepared for Franco-Spanish cooperation, as it begins with special signals for indicating Spanish and French squadrons, divisions, frigates, the reserve corps, etc. The 400 signals for use at anchor covered not only every feature of fleet administration, as in the manner of Morogues, but also shore bombardments and landings. Twenty special signals allowed for reporting the movements of ships, to be made by privateers. The signals for use under sail by day, made with a combinaton of 'cornets', which were swallow-tail flags, other flags, and flags from the table, included a series of battle signals. No-one studying this book could criticise the Spanish either for a lack of useful signals for battle and general purposes, or for over elaboration of signalling technique. Although still tied to the tabular system, their arrangement waas brilliantly simple compard with that of the French.
he obtained his greatest military achievement. Thanks to his naval knowledge and proposal of a bold manoeuvre, which his colleagues considered reckless, Cordova's fleet of 31 ships of the line and 6 frigates overcame the British escort of one ship of the line and 3 frigates to capture a large merchant convoy
causing a severe blow to British commerce. Two years later he took part in the indecisive Battle of Cape Spartel
. At the end of the American Revolutionary War
he was sent to Algiers
as ambassador in order to negotiate peace after the Spanish bombardments of Algiers
.
. During the French Revolutionary Wars
Mazarredo's fleet from Cadiz joined Lángara's
Squadron in the Mediterrenean. During those months Don Mazarredo, who had relieved Lángara
did several operations in the Mediterranean Sea, one of them was the evacuation of soldiers and civilians from Roses, a city in the Catalan coast that was being besieged by the French.
Shorty after, Don Mazarredo had written to warn Godoy of the dangers of a Spanish naval decline, accusing the government of bad administration. This cost him to lose his rank, being dismissed and sent to Ferrol weeks later. But after the Spanish defeat in Battle of Cape St Vincent, the admiralty requested his reinstatement. Mazarredo then took command at Cadiz, where a British fleet appeared on 5 July and proceeded to blockade and bombard the city. But Admiral Mazarredo had already organised its defences for such an attack. The Spanish garrison and naval forces put up such a spirited resistance that the British fleet failed to produce any significant loses to the Spanish and went away two days later.
In 1798 Don Mazarredo quitted Cadiz with 22 ships of the line
, 3 frigate
s and the French
frigate La Vestal, chasing the British squadron
blockading Cadiz, consisting of 9 ships of the line and some frigates under Vice-Admiral Robert Mann, who managed to scape. The next year he quitted port again and proceeded to Cartagena
.
Among the news that Napoleon Bonaparte
learned that the French Atlantic
Fleet, commanded by the Minister of Marine Admiral Étienne Bruix
, had entered the Mediterranean and was at Toulon
, Bonaparte learned that a Spanish squadron under Admiral Mazarredo had left Cadiz
and was at Cartagena
. This last bit of news, which presaged a joint Franco-Spanish action in the Mediterranean, should perhaps haye induced Bonaparte to remain in Egypt
in order to await its issue. Bruix instructions were to co-operate with the Spanish fleet supplying beleaguered Malta
and Corfu
and then to bring supplies and several thousand reinforcements to Alexandria
.
On 21 June 1799, after Bruix helped to evacuate the French from various Italian ports, he joined Mazarredo at Cartagena. The combined Franco-Spanish fleet comprised forty-two battleships. Since the sixty British ships of the line in the Mediterranean were scattered among several squadrons, Bruix had a unique opportunity to expel the British from that sea and take his fleet to Egypt. Mazarredo refused to co-operate with the French in any enterprise save the reconquest of Minorca from Britain. On 30 March the Franco-Spanish fleet sailed from Cartagena to Cadiz. In June 1799, the French and Spanish fleets under Mazarredo and Bruix, amounting to forty sail of the line, and upwards of thirty frigates and smaller vessels, formed a junction at Cartagena, and on 7 July 1799
after an order sent by him, the chasing ships of his Spanish squadron captured the 18-gun hired cutter
of the Royal navy
Penelope, commanded by Flag Lieutenant Frederick Maitland. After this short action, he proceed from Cadiz to Brest
without opposition.
Don Mazarredo called Napoleon's plans "imperialistic and despoistic".
Despite his open criticism of the naval systems at the end of his career, Mazarredo had a well-rounded record of sea time, ship command, commander-in-chief of the corps of marines, and responsible posts as aide to senior Spanish commanders at sea. He conducted several comparative sea trials to perfect ship-handling methods and ships' signalling routines in the San Ildefonso-class.
Don Mazarredo is considered to be one of the best Spanish naval commanders of all time.
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Jose de Mazarredo y Salazar de Muñatones Cortázar Order of Santiago
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...
(Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
1745 – Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, 1812) was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Basque naval commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
, cartographer, ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
, astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
and professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of naval tactics
Naval warfare
Naval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
. He is considered to be one of the best Spanish naval commanders of all time.
Early life
His inclination toward the sea began at a young age; at 14 he enlisted himself aboard the sloopSloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
Andaluz.
After 12 years of service in the Spanish navy, and by the good concept his superiors had to him, he was made assistant of the maritime department of Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
.
In 1772 Don Mazarredo went to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
aboard the Frigate Venus, but in 1774 he was transferred to the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Rosalía and took part in a hydrographic campaign South America.
In 1775 he took part of the Spanish attack on Algiers. The plans of navigation, anchorage and disembarkation of the twenty thousand men of the Spanish army were made by him. Shortly after, Don Mazarredo developed a tabular system for the use of the Spanish Navy. In 1778, as commander of the ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
San Juan Bautista, he realised hydrographic surveys in the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, contributing to the creation of a Maritime Atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
.
Tactics
Mazarredo was an original theorist. The Spanish Navy entered the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
with a system of tactics divised by him, Teniente de navío de la Real Armada, and expounded in Rudimentos de Táctica Naval para Instruction de los Officiales Subalternos de Marina, printed at Madrid in 1776, dedicated to King Charles III. Despite bearing some evidence of the influence of Paul Hoste and Sébastien Morogues
Sébastien Bigot de Morogues
Sébastien-François Bigot, vicomte de Morogues, , was a French soldier and sailor and military naval tactician.-Life:...
, this is a text book for junior officers, though it could clearly have been read with profit by all alike. In common with the French writers, Mazarredo said very little about fighting the enemy. Broady speaking, his tone was sophisticated and undogmatic.
Mazarredo did introduce a new sea-warfare idea, the use of fireships by the windward fleet, if threatened with doubling as a means of covering its retreat to windward. Salazar also showed himself an innovator in his treatment of breaking the enemy line. He poroposed that, when the fleet was to windward, the centre should break through the enemy centre. In the process of breaking through, the enemy's centre ships immediately astern of the break would be forced away to leeward, so disorganising the neemy rear and isolating it. Meanwhile, the enemy van would have no choice but to stand on to avoid being put between two fires, and it would thus become completely separated from the remaineder of the fleet.
Exactly the same movement might be executed from leeward, though in that case the enemy's rear would be forced to give way to windawrd, thus exposing itself to the fire of the centre and rear ships of the attacking fleet. Mazarredo also drew up a signal book, specifically for Córdova's
Luis de Córdova y Córdova
Luis de Córdova y Córdova was a Spanish admiral. He is best known for his command of the Spanish fleet during the American War of Independence...
fleet, which was printed in 1781. It was used in the operations against Minorca and Gibraltar, and it does not seem unreasonable that Córdova's signalling system was somewhat similar when he first joined comte d'Orvilliers
Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers
Louis Guillouet, comte d'Orvilliers was a French admiral.D'Orvilliers was born in Moulins, Allier, but spent most of his childhood in Cayenne, capital of the French colony French Guiana, where his father was governor. In 1723, aged fifteen, he joined the colony's infantry regiment and quickly rose...
in 1778. Mazarredo's signal book of 1781 is an improvement on Chevalier du Pavillon's
Jean-François Du Cheyron
Jean-François Du Cheyron, chevalier du Pavillon was a French naval tactician and Capitaine du vaisseau, hero of the American Revolutionary War. He is considered one of the principal creators of naval communications before the era of radio...
. Like the latter, it employed a tabular system, but much less complex. It employed tables 20 yby 20, each permitting 400 signals.
This signal book was prepared for Franco-Spanish cooperation, as it begins with special signals for indicating Spanish and French squadrons, divisions, frigates, the reserve corps, etc. The 400 signals for use at anchor covered not only every feature of fleet administration, as in the manner of Morogues, but also shore bombardments and landings. Twenty special signals allowed for reporting the movements of ships, to be made by privateers. The signals for use under sail by day, made with a combinaton of 'cornets', which were swallow-tail flags, other flags, and flags from the table, included a series of battle signals. No-one studying this book could criticise the Spanish either for a lack of useful signals for battle and general purposes, or for over elaboration of signalling technique. Although still tied to the tabular system, their arrangement waas brilliantly simple compard with that of the French.
American Revolutionary War
As Cordova's Chief of staffChief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
he obtained his greatest military achievement. Thanks to his naval knowledge and proposal of a bold manoeuvre, which his colleagues considered reckless, Cordova's fleet of 31 ships of the line and 6 frigates overcame the British escort of one ship of the line and 3 frigates to capture a large merchant convoy
Action of 9 August 1780
The Action of 9 August 1780 was a naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War in which the main Spanish fleet led by Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova, together with a squadron of French ships, captured a heavy British convoy of sixty-three vessels causing a severe blow to the commerce of...
causing a severe blow to British commerce. Two years later he took part in the indecisive Battle of Cape Spartel
Battle of Cape Spartel
The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe...
. At the end of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
he was sent to Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
as ambassador in order to negotiate peace after the Spanish bombardments of Algiers
Bombardment of Algiers (1784)
The 2nd Bombardment of Algiers took place between 12 and 21 July 1784. A joint Spanish-Neapolitan-Maltese-Portuguese fleet commanded by the experienced Spanish Admiral Antonio Barceló bombarded the city, which was the main base of the Barbary corsairs, with the aim of forcing them to interrupt...
.
French Revolutionary Wars
In 1793 Mazarredo received the military Order of SantiagoOrder of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...
. During the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
Mazarredo's fleet from Cadiz joined Lángara's
Juan de Lángara
Juan Francisco de Lángara y Huarte was a Spanish naval officer and Minister of Marine.-Life and career:He was born at Coruña, Galicia, the son of a renowned Basque family...
Squadron in the Mediterrenean. During those months Don Mazarredo, who had relieved Lángara
Juan de Lángara
Juan Francisco de Lángara y Huarte was a Spanish naval officer and Minister of Marine.-Life and career:He was born at Coruña, Galicia, the son of a renowned Basque family...
did several operations in the Mediterranean Sea, one of them was the evacuation of soldiers and civilians from Roses, a city in the Catalan coast that was being besieged by the French.
Shorty after, Don Mazarredo had written to warn Godoy of the dangers of a Spanish naval decline, accusing the government of bad administration. This cost him to lose his rank, being dismissed and sent to Ferrol weeks later. But after the Spanish defeat in Battle of Cape St Vincent, the admiralty requested his reinstatement. Mazarredo then took command at Cadiz, where a British fleet appeared on 5 July and proceeded to blockade and bombard the city. But Admiral Mazarredo had already organised its defences for such an attack. The Spanish garrison and naval forces put up such a spirited resistance that the British fleet failed to produce any significant loses to the Spanish and went away two days later.
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
, 3 frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
frigate La Vestal, chasing the British squadron
Squadron
Squadron has different meanings:*Squadron , a cavalry or other unit that consists of a number of troops.*Squadron , a unit of aircraft that consists of three or four "flights", with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, depending on aircraft type and air force.*Squadron , a unit of 3-4 major naval vessels...
blockading Cadiz, consisting of 9 ships of the line and some frigates under Vice-Admiral Robert Mann, who managed to scape. The next year he quitted port again and proceeded to Cartagena
Cartagena
-Colombia:*Cartagena, Colombia, a city in the Bolivar Region, the largest city bearing this name*Cartagena de Chairá, Colombia-Other:*Cartagena *Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety*FC Cartagena, a football club based in Cartagena, Spain-See also:...
.
Among the news that Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
learned that the French Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
Fleet, commanded by the Minister of Marine Admiral Étienne Bruix
Étienne Eustache Bruix
Étienne Eustache Bruix was a French sailor.-Life:From a distinguished family originating from Béarn, he embarked as a volunteer on a slaving vessel commanded by captain Jean-François Landolphe...
, had entered the Mediterranean and was at Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
, Bonaparte learned that a Spanish squadron under Admiral Mazarredo had left Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
and was at Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
. This last bit of news, which presaged a joint Franco-Spanish action in the Mediterranean, should perhaps haye induced Bonaparte to remain in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in order to await its issue. Bruix instructions were to co-operate with the Spanish fleet supplying beleaguered Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and then to bring supplies and several thousand reinforcements to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
.
On 21 June 1799, after Bruix helped to evacuate the French from various Italian ports, he joined Mazarredo at Cartagena. The combined Franco-Spanish fleet comprised forty-two battleships. Since the sixty British ships of the line in the Mediterranean were scattered among several squadrons, Bruix had a unique opportunity to expel the British from that sea and take his fleet to Egypt. Mazarredo refused to co-operate with the French in any enterprise save the reconquest of Minorca from Britain. On 30 March the Franco-Spanish fleet sailed from Cartagena to Cadiz. In June 1799, the French and Spanish fleets under Mazarredo and Bruix, amounting to forty sail of the line, and upwards of thirty frigates and smaller vessels, formed a junction at Cartagena, and on 7 July 1799
Action of 7 July 1799
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 cutter Penelope, which was under the command of Sir Frederick Maitland.-Background:In June 1799, the French and...
after an order sent by him, the chasing ships of his Spanish squadron captured the 18-gun hired cutter
Hired armed vessels
right|thumb|250px|Armed cutter, etching in the [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]]During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels...
of the Royal navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
Penelope, commanded by Flag Lieutenant Frederick Maitland. After this short action, he proceed from Cadiz to Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
without opposition.
Later years
In 1804 he was sent as ambassador from Spain to France having previously given up the command of the Squadron at Brest to Don Federico Gravina in 1801. His frank bearing and firmness of character were little agreeable to the First consul, who required more flexibility in the agents employed by other powers, with greater difference to his own views and pretensions. It was imperative upon the Spanish court to conciliate the rising power of Napoleon, and Mazarredo soon heard of his recall. Mazarredo had greatly displeased Napoleon by his outspokenness and lack of flexibility, thus he was dismissed to soothe the angry Napoleon, and the subordination of Spanish interest to those of France was complete.Don Mazarredo called Napoleon's plans "imperialistic and despoistic".
Despite his open criticism of the naval systems at the end of his career, Mazarredo had a well-rounded record of sea time, ship command, commander-in-chief of the corps of marines, and responsible posts as aide to senior Spanish commanders at sea. He conducted several comparative sea trials to perfect ship-handling methods and ships' signalling routines in the San Ildefonso-class.
Don Mazarredo is considered to be one of the best Spanish naval commanders of all time.