| Conflict: | Blockade of Porto Bello |
| Partof: | the Anglo-Spanish War (1727–1729) |
| Date: | 1726–1728 |
| Place: | Porto Bello (present-day Panama) |
| Result: | Spanish victory[1] [2] Spanish treasure fleet evades blockade. |
| Combatant2: |  Spain |
| Commander1: | Francis Hosier Edward St. Lo Edward Hopson |
| Commander2: | Antonio de Gaztañeta Gregorio Guazo Juan de Andía |
| Strength1: | 11 ships of line 1 frigate 2 sloops of war 1 snow 4,750 men[3] |
| Strength2: | 2,000 troops[4] |
| Casualties1: | 4,000+ dead[5] 1 ship wrecked |
| Notes: | Most British casualties were due to yellow fever and other tropical diseases. |
The Blockade of Porto Bello was a failed British naval action against the Spanish port of Porto Bello in present-day Panama between 1726 and 1727 as part of the Anglo-Spanish War. The British were attempting to blockade the port to stop the Spanish treasure fleet leaving for Spain with its valuable cargo. However tropical disease took its toll of the seamen to the extent that the British had to leave to re-crew, during which time the Spanish were able to re-commence shipping operations.
Spain and Britain had come into conflict during the 1720s over a number of issues, and had recently been at war with each other during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Disputes over trade were a major cause of aggravation to Anglo-Spanish relations, combined with a fear in Britain that Spain had made an alliance with Austria as the precursor to declaring war on Britain and its ally France. The British decided to try to weaken Spain and discourage them from pursuing the Austrian alliance by denying the Spanish the treasure fleets on which metropolitan Spain had become dependent.
In March 1726 an expedition was sent to the Spanish West Indies, under Rear-Admiral Francis Hosier, for the purpose of blocking up the Spanish galleons or seizing them should they venture out. The former privateer and governor of the Bahamas Woodes Rogers, who was in London at the time, was consulted by the Government as to the probable means and route the Spaniards would adopt to get their treasure home. From past experience Rogers probably knew more than any other person then in England of the difficulties of the voyage, and in conjunction with Capt. Jonathan Denniss,[6] he delivered a report dated 10 November 1726 to Viscount Townshend, Secretary of State, to prepare Hosier for his task:[7]
Hosier's fleet appeared off Bastimentos,[8] 11 km to the north-east of Porto Bello, on 16 June 1726.[9] This Bastimentos [10] is shown on contemporary maps[11] between Porto Bello and Nombre de Dios, the former treasure port captured twice by Drake, in 1572 and 1595, after which it was abandoned and replaced by Portobello. It should not be confused with the now better known Bastimentos Island 271 km to the west of Porto Bello. Following orders ultimately from Walpole to blockade Porto Bello but not to take it, Hosier remained before it, allowing no ships to go in or come out without strict examination. On first arrival of the squadron several Spanish ships were captured. The Spanish convoy unloaded its valuables and waited.
After remaining for six months, yellow fever made such havoc among his seamen that he was compelled to return to Jamaica, where he recruited fresh crews. Two months later, he was again at sea and continued to cruise in the Caribbean Sea in front of Cartagena, still losing men to the disease. Furthermore, this absence from Porto Bello made the blockade ineffective, and in January 1727, Antonio de Gaztañeta slipped a Spanish treasure fleet with 31 million pesos on board through the British blockade reaching Spain on 8 March 1727.
The incidence of fever was accelerated by a disregard for basic sanitation and hygiene in the British fleet.[12] Between three and four thousand British sailors died of disease out of a complement of 4,600. Hosier himself died of yellow fever on 23 August 1727. His body was wrapped in a sheet and left in the hold of his flagship for four months, until a ship was found to return it to England for burial.[12]
Hosier was temporarily replaced by Edward St. Lo, who maintained the blockade and returned to Jamaica to resupply and refit the fleet when it was clear the Spanish fleet would not leave port. In Jamaica he was replaced by Edward Hopson in January 1728, but regained command when Hopson succumbed to disease the following May. St. Lo continued to command the blockading fleet until April 1729, when he too died of a tropical malady. By this time, preliminary peace terms had been agreed between the two powers, and the fleet returned home. The war came to a formal end with the signing in November 1729 of the Treaty of Seville.
The fleet comprised 20 ships, including the following:[13]
This disaster caused an outrage in Britain and Hosier became an easy scapegoat, being blamed for a lack of initiative, although in reality his hands had been tied by Admiralty orders, stemming from Walpole's wish to avoid war with Spain. At the beginning of the maritime War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–42) the disaster still had not been forgotten and following Admiral Vernon's Capture of Porto Bello on 21 November 1739 with only 6 ships, which vindication raised the British public's joy to fever pitch, and inspired the writing of Rule, Britannia! Britannia Rule the Waves!, Richard Glover wrote a spirited ballad, Hosier's Ghost, Admiral Hosier's Ghost which further excited the British nation against the Spaniards, but was primarily designed to shame Walpole and the anti-war faction for his 1726 orders of inaction, which many considered had been a betrayal of Hosier and his men.