View source for Wager's Action

{{Short description|1708 naval battle in the War of the Spanish Succession}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Wager's Action
|image=Wager's Action off Cartagena, 28 May 1708.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=''[[Wager's Action off Cartagena]]'' by [[Samuel Scott (painter)|Samuel Scott]], c.1747
|partof=the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]
|date= 8 June 1708
|place=Off [[Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena]], [[Caribbean Sea]]
|coordinates =
{{coord|10.171|-75.661|type:event_globe:earth_region:CO|display=title,inline}}
|result=British victory
|combatant1={{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}}
|commander1={{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain|civil}} [[Charles Wager]]
|combatant2={{flagdeco|Spain|1701}} [[History of Spain (1700–1810)|Spain]] <br> {{flagcountry|Kingdom of France}}
|commander2={{flagdeco|Spain|1701}} José de Santillán{{KIA}}<br> {{flagdeco|Kingdom of France|naval}} [[Jean-Baptiste du Casse]]
|strength1= 5 ships of the line<br> 1 fireship<ref name="Duro">{{cite book | last = Fernández Duro | first = Cesáreo | title = Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y de León, tomo VI | publisher = Est. tipográfico "Sucesores de Rivadeneyra" | year = 1898 | pages = 89| url =https://archive.org/details/armadaespaolade00durogoog}}</ref>
|strength2= 3 [[galleon]]s<br> 1 [[hulk (medieval ship type)|hulk]]<br> 14 merchant ships<ref name="Duro"/>
|casualties2=1,247 killed or wounded <br> 1 galleon captured <br> 1 galleon destroyed <br> 1 [[hulk (medieval ship type)|hulk]] scuttled<ref name="Duro"/>
|casualties1=14 killed or wounded
|campaignbox={{Campaignbox War of the Spanish Succession: West Indies}}
}}
'''Wager's Action''' was a naval confrontation on 8 June 1708 N.S. (28 May O.S.), between a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] squadron under [[Charles Wager]] and the [[Spanish treasure fleet]], as part of the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. The battle ended in a British victory over the Spanish fleet.
==Background==
In the spring of 1708 Charles Wager was on an expedition in the [[Caribbean]] with a squadron of four ships:
* ''[[HMS Expedition (1679)|Expedition]]'' (70 guns), [[Sea captain|Captain]] Henry Long
* ''[[HMS Kingston (1697)|Kingston]]'' (60 guns), Captain Simon (Timothy) Bridges
* ''[[HMS Portland (1693)|Portland]]'' (50 guns), Captain Edward Windsor
* ''[[HMS Vulture (1690)|Vulture]]'' (28 guns),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=7374 |title=British Fifth Rate fireship 'Vulture' (1690) |work=Three Decks.org |access-date=28 May 2018}}</ref> fire ship under [[Commander]] Caesar Brooks
In April the squadron took in supplies on the small island of Pequeña Barú, part of the [[Rosario Islands]], just 30 miles away from [[Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena]]. Here the Spanish were aware of their presence, and the governor of Cartagena sent warnings to the Spanish fleet, which was anchored in [[Portobelo, Colón]].
Nevertheless, the commander of the treasure fleet, José Fernández de Santillán, decided to sail from Portobelo to Cartagena on 28 May. He could not wait much longer as the [[Atlantic hurricane season|hurricane season]] was approaching and the rest of the fleet, plus their [[convoy#Age of Sail|escort]] under [[Jean-Baptiste du Casse]] were waiting in [[Havana]] and threatened to leave without him.
The Spanish fleet was composed of fourteen [[merchant ship]]s, a lightly armed [[hulk (medieval ship type)|hulk]], and three escorting galleons:<ref name="Duro"/>
* [[Spanish galleon San José|''San José'']] (64 guns), Captain José Fernández de Santillán
* ''San Joaquín'' (64 guns), Captain Villanueva
* ''Santa Cruz'' (44 guns),  Captain de la Rosa
The gold and silver were concentrated on the 3 largest vessels. The ''San José'' had 7 to 11 million pesos on board, and the ''San Joaquín'' 5 million.{{Citation needed|date=December 2015}} The ''Santa Cruz'' had the rest, only a fraction of the other two ships.{{fact|date=July 2022}}
==Battle==
The Spanish fleet reached [[Isla Barú|Isla de Barú]] on the evening of 7 June and anchored there.
The next day there was very little wind, and around 3 p.m. they noticed Wager's squadron approaching. The Spanish took up defensive positions, but the British knew they had to attack the largest ships, because they had the most money on board. The ''Kingston'' attacked  the ''San Joaquín'' around 5 p.m. which, after two hours of battle, escaped into the night with the help of the ''Concepción''. The ''Expedition'' attacked the ''San José'' and approached the vessel with the clear intention of [[Naval boarding|boarding]] the ship. Around 7 p.m., after an hour and a half of fierce fighting and with only 60 meters between the two ships, the ''San José'' suddenly blew up. The ship sank immediately, taking its precious cargo and almost the entire crew to the bottom of the sea. There were only 11 survivors out of the 600 crew and passengers on board; José Fernández de Santillán went down with his ship.<ref>{{Cite web |title=José Fernández de Santillán y Quesada {{!}} Real Academia de la Historia |url=https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/73152/jose-fernandez-de-santillan-y-quesada |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=dbe.rah.es |language=es}}</ref>
By now it was dark, but there was a full moon and Wager succeeded in finding the ''Santa Cruz'' at 2 a.m. After a brief fight, which left 14 British and 90 Spanish dead, the ''Santa Cruz'' was taken; however, she had no government treasure in her - only 13 chests of [[Spanish dollar|pieces of eight]] and 14 [[Ingot|pigs]] of silver which seem to have been private property. At dawn, the British discovered the ''San Joaquín'', and Wager ordered the ''Kingston'' and ''Portland'' to capture the ship. After a few salvos, however, the ''San Joaquín'' successfully made way towards Cartagena harbour, and the British decided against following them. The rest of the Spanish fleet also reached Cartagena safely, except the hulk ''Concepción'' which, cornered by the British, beached itself on Baru Island where the crew set the ship alight.
[[File:1708 OS Wagers Action.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Charles Wager's Engagement with the Fleet of Spanish Men of War and Galleons off of Cartagena on 28 May 1708]]
==Aftermath==
The British had bested the three galleons and prevented the Spanish fleet from transporting the gold and silver to Europe and funding the Franco-Spanish war effort during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. Although Charles Wager became a rich man, he was disappointed with the treasure captured because it could have been many times larger if they had captured the ''San Joaquín''. Captains Bridges and Windsor were [[court-martial]]led for this failure.
===Legacy===
{{see also|Spanish galleon San José}}
The estimated $1bn (£662m) treasure of the ''San José'', which is still on the bottom of the ocean but located in 2015, is estimated to be worth about 4 billion US dollars based on the speculation that it likely had 7 million Spanish pesos in registered gold on board at the time of its sinking, similar to its surviving sister ship, the ''San Joaquín''.  The ''San José'' is called the "Holy Grail of Shipwrecks."<ref>[http://www.treasureexpeditions.com/shipwreck_san_jose_treasure_1.htm The Most Valuable Shipwreck: The San Jose]. ''Treasure Expeditions''.</ref>
A group of investors from the United States called Glocca Mora Co. operating under the name "Sea Search Armada" (SSA) claim to have found the ship off the coast of Colombia in 1981, but Colombia refused to sign a 65%/35% share offer and refused SSA permission to conduct full salvage operations at the shipwreck site.<ref name="Holly Grail">{{cite web |url=http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2012/02/galleon-san-jose-the-holy-grail-of-ship-wrecks/ |title=Galleon San Jose, the 'Holy Grail of Ship Wrecks' |last=Spilman |first=Rick |work=The Old Salt Blog |date=February 29, 2012 |access-date=2015-12-08 }}</ref>  The Colombian parliament then passed a law giving the state the right to all of the treasure, leaving SSA with a 5% finder's fee, which was to be taxed at 45%. SSA sued Colombia in its courts in 1989.<ref name="Holly Grail"/> The legal dispute over the rights to the treasure took a turn in July 2007 when the Supreme Court of Colombia concluded that any treasure recovered would be split equally between the Colombian government and the explorers. Sea Search Armada subsequently sued in US courts, but that case was dismissed twice, in 2011 and 2015 on technical grounds, and the US court declared the galleon property of the Colombian state.<ref name="Holly Grail"/><ref name="CNN 2015">{{cite news |last1=Martinez |first1= Michael |last2=Prifti |first2=Alba |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/05/americas/colombia-spanish-galleon-san-jose-found/ |title=Colombia says it found Spanish galleon; U.S. firm claims half of treasure |work=CNN News |date=5 December 2015 |access-date=2015-12-08 }}</ref><ref name="ohagan-guardian-two-rivers">{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/05/spanish-galleon-with-rumoured-1bn-treasure-hoard-found-says-colombias-president | date = 5 December 2015 | access-date = 5 December 2015 | agency = Reuters | work = [[The Guardian]] | title = Spanish galleon with rumoured £1bn treasure hoard found, says Colombia's president}}</ref> The Colombian government has not verified its existence at the stated coordinates.<ref name="Holly Grail"/>
On 27 November 2015, the galleon ''San José'' was found by the [[Colombian Navy]], although the discovery was not announced by the [[President of Colombia]], [[Juan Manuel Santos]], until 5 December.<ref name="ohagan-guardian-two-rivers"/><ref>{{cite web| title=San Jose galleon shipwreck with £1 billion treasure found off Colombia, says President Juan Manuel Santos| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/colombias-president-juan-manuel-santos-claims-galleon-shipwreck-with-1bn-treasure-found-a6761471.html|website = The Independedt| access-date=2015-12-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|  title = Colombia treasure-laden San Jose galleon 'is found'| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-35014600| website = [[BBC News]]| access-date = 2015-12-05| date = 5 December 2015}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/06/wreck-spanish-galleon-treasure-haul Spanish galleon may contain biggest treasure haul ever found on seabed], ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref>  The discovery was made using a [[REMUS (AUV)|REMUS 6000]] [[autonomous underwater vehicle]].<ref name="Hallazgo del Galeón San José - 5 de diciembre de 2015">{{cite web| title=Hallazgo del Galeón San José - 5 de diciembre de 2015| date=5 December 2015 | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ3zSHYPm9c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/gQ3zSHYPm9c |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|publisher=Presidency of Colombia| access-date=6 December 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The identity of the shipwreck is in no doubt. From the dive photographs, Colombian marine archaeologists<ref>{{cite news  |url=http://www.elespanol.com/cultura/20151205/84491554_0.html |title=found off the coast of Cartagena de Indias San Jose, a Spanish galleon sunk in 1708 |agency=The Spanish |date=5 December 2015}}</ref> have identified ''San José'' by her unique bronze cannons engraved with dolphins. Colombia has claimed the galleon as part of its submerged patrimony and has classified the information regarding the location of the galleon as a [[Classified information|state secret]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/holy-grail-of-shipwrecks-found-off-colombia/ |title=Holy grail of shipwrecks found off Colombia |work=The Associated Press |publisher=CBS News |date=December 6, 2015 |access-date=2015-12-09}}</ref>
In November 2023 the Colombian government are looking to recover the treasure.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wyss |first1=Jim |title=Colombia Accelerates Plan to Recover Up to $20 Billion in Sunken Treasure |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-03/colombia-accelerates-plan-to-recover-billions-in-sunken-treasure |access-date=14 November 2023 |agency=Bloomberg |date=3 November 2013}}</ref> The following year in May Colombia began exploring the wreck in the first stage of a research project by the [[Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History]] using underwater robots to gather an inventory of the wreck site.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Cachella |title=Colombia begins exploring 'holy grail of shipwrecks' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4nn983qmepo |date=26 May 2024 |access-date=26 May 2024 |agency=BBC News}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://rgssa.blogspot.com/2019/10/action-off-cartagena-wreck-of-san-jose.html Description of the action off Cartagena by Captain Charles Wager and Captain Arauz of the Spanish escort ship, Carmen. Royal Geographical Society of South Australia]
* [http://www.treasureexpeditions.com/shipwreck_san_jose_treasure_1.htm San José 1708]
* [http://www.todoababor.es/articulos/sjose_baru.htm El Galeón San José y la batalla de Barú (Spanish)]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1708]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving Great Britain]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving Spain]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving France]]
[[Category:18th century in Colombia]]