On This Day ... 1591 & Others
At Flores, in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,
And a pinnace, like a flutter’d bird, came flying from far away;
“Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!”
Then sware Lord Thomas Howard: “’Fore God I am no coward;
But I cannot meet them here, for my ships are out of gear,
And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but follow quick.
We are six ships of the line; can we fight with fifty-three?”
Revenge, commanded by Sir Richard Grenville, conducted her epic fight against the Spanish at the Azores. An English squadron was watering at Flores, hoping to ambush the Spanish silver convoy from the Americas, when a large Spanish fleet under Don Alonzo de Bazan was sighted. The rest of the squadron escaped, but Revenge, which had been Sir Francis Drake's flagship against the Armada in 1588, found herself facing 53 Spanish ships on her own. In an action that lasted fifteen hours, Revenge sank 4 Spanish ships and repelled boarders at least five, perhaps as many as 15, times. Finally, with Sir Richard Grenville grievously wounded and most of her crew dead, she was forced to surrender. Grenville received the best medical attention Bazan could offer, but died two days later.
The incident is commemorated in Alfred Lord Tennyson's ballad of The Revenge
Where Granville, boast of freedom, fell,
Your manly hearts shall glow.
The Spanish did not long enjoy possession of Revenge. Badly damaged, she was wrecked in a violent storm a fortnight later. Grenville's cousin, Sir Walter Ralegh, regarded him as a hero who chose to fight rather than abandon a foraging party ashore. Most other contemporaries were less charitable, deploring his failure to escape with the rest of Lord Howard's squadron and losing perhaps the best ship in Queen Elizabeth's Navy Royal.
By way of a footnote, it is worth pointing out that the spelling of Sir Richard's name has led to much controversy. Four different families, each of which claim to be descended from him, spell it Granville, Grenville, Grenfell and Greenfield. The spelling usually accepted is Grenville, but his own signature, in a bold clear handwriting, among the Tanner manuscripts in the Bodleian library at Oxford, is Greynvile.
1813: Wellington's British and Portuguese troops captured the French border fortress of San Sebastian, opening the way into southern France.
1855: A small Royal Navy landing party of five men were put ashore on the Crimean coast to destroy Russian boats and supplies. However, they walked into an ambush. Despite being outnumbered ten-to-one, they were on the verge of escape when one man fell.
Bo'sun Kellaway of HMS Wrangler immediately turned back to help him, and fought desperately with the Russians as they closed in. Despite his efforts, both men were captured. Kellaway's disregard for his own safety was recognised by the award of the Victoria Cross .
1858: In India, Captain Browne charged a mutineer artillery piece. A hand-to-hand fight with the gunners cost him his left arm, taken off at the shoulder by a sword blow, but he succeeded in preventing the gun firing on the advancing British troops. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and later achieved the rank of Chief Boatswain
1918: Second Lieutenant Huffam, of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, distinguished himself during the Allied advance across France, twice rushing machine-gun nests, and also rescuing under fire a wounded man.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross
Private George Cartwright, 33rd (New South Wales) Australian Battalion, similarly charged alone against an enemy machine-gun which had pinned down half his battalion.
His citation for the award of his Victoria Cross reads
For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on the morning of 31st August 1918 during the attack on Road Wood, south-west of Bouchavesnes, near Péronne. When two companies were held up by machine-gun fire from the south-western edge of the wood, without hesitation Private Cartwright moved against the gun in a most deliberate manner under intense fire [one report says he was standing, advancing at a walk, firing from the shoulder]. He shot three of the team, and, having bombed the post, captured the gun and nine enemy. This gallant deed had a most inspiring effect on the whole line, which immediately rushed forward. Throughout the operation Private Cartwright displayed wonderful dash, grim determination and courage of the highest order.
1940: The Luftwaffe continued its onslaught on RAF airfields, with Fighter Command suffering its worst casualties thus far; 37 RAF fighters were destroyed, with twelve pilots lost. However, the defenders believed they had downed at least 85 German aircraft.
1944: On the slopes of Monte Gidolfo in Italy, Lieutenant Norton, a South African officer serving with the Hampshire Regiment, ignored fire from a German assault gun to single-handedly eliminate in succession three German machine-gun positions, killing or capturing all their defenders. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.
