| Conflict: | Battle of the Bay of Biscay (1592) |
| Partof: | the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) |
| Date: | November 1592 |
| Place: | Bay of Biscay, Atlantic Ocean |
| Result: | Spanish victory[1] [2] |
| Combatant2: |  Spain |
| Commander1: | Unknown |
| Commander2: | Pedro de Zubiaur |
| Strength1: | 6 warships 40 merchant ships[3] |
| Strength2: | 5 flyboats |
| Casualties1: | Flagship boarded and burned Several ships damaged 3 ships captured[4] |
| Casualties2: | 1 flyboat damaged |
The Battle of the Bay of Biscay of 1592 was a naval engagement that took place in waters of the Bay of Biscay, in November 1592, between a Spanish naval force of 5 flyboats commanded by Captain Don Pedro de Zubiaur and an English convoy of 40 ships, supported by a 6-warship squadron, as part of the Brittany Campaign during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the French Wars of Religion.[1] [2] The Spanish force led by Captain Zubiaur, despite being outnumbered, engaged the English ships, achieving a resounding success.[3] The English flagship was boarded and burned, causing great confusion among the English convoy.[3] [4] Shortly after, another English force composed of six warships (sent by Queen Elizabeth I of England to Bordeaux to support the French Protestants), arrived at the battle, and tried to defend the convoy.[2] After long and intense fighting, the Spaniards were victorious in battle, and three more English ships were captured, besides several ships seriously damaged.[2] [3] [4]
The next year, on 18 April, in the same waters, another English naval force, commanded by Admiral Wilkenson, was defeated by Zubiaur's naval forces off the coasts of Blaye, a town besieged by land and sea by Protestant forces in the context of the French Wars of Religion.[5] [6]