Attack of 4 Spanish vessels by the division of Commodore Moore - 5 October 1804, Francis Sartorius II

Attack of 4 spanish vessels by the division of commodore moore - 5 october 1804; captain graham moore of hms indefatigable together with three other three frigates hms lively, hms medusa and hms amphion moore sighted the spanish ships on the 5th october just off cape santa maria in southern portugal and sent a messenger, lieutenant ascott, to the spanish flagship, the medea, to explain his orders. The commander of the spanish treasure convoy, brigadier don josé de bustamante y guerra on the flagship medea naturally refused to hand over his four laden ships to moore. A warning shot across the bows of the medea failed to have the desired effect and general firing broke out. Within minutes the spanish ship, nuestra señora de las mercedes had exploded and sunk together with its treasure of silver and gold bullion and 240 of its 280 man crew. The remaining three ships were captured and taken first to gibraltar and then to gosport. In december 1804 spain declared war on britain. Object Type: painting. The sinking of the "Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes" by Francis Sartorius