The Battle of Cap de la Roque was a naval battle that took place on May 22 1703 between an Dutch convoy protected by captain Roemer Vlacq and a French squadron under Alain Emmanuel de Coëtlogon, during the War of the Spanish Succession.
During this war the French and Spanish fleet could not face the English and Dutch in an open sea battle and therefore had switched to privateering. The allies were thus forced to protect their merchant convoys.
On May 21 1703 a large merchant fleet consisting of more than 100 English and Dutch ships left Lisbon for England. There were five escorting Dutch ships: line ships Muiderberg (50), Gaesterland (46)and Schermer (?) and frigats Rotterdam (34) and Rozendaal (36) under command of captain Roemer Vlacq on board the Muiderberg.
The next day near Cabo da Roca (fr: Cap de la Roque) they encountered the squadron of Coëtlogon composed of five larger warships : Le Vainqueur , Le Monarque , L'Éole , L'Orgueilleux and La Couronne, all armed with 60 to 90 guns.
Vlacq, after signalling the merchantmen to save themselves, lined his ships up to protect the fleet and engaged the French. The Dutch fought valiantly but the French were too strong and ship after ship had to capitulate.
Vlacq and the Muiderberg fought on until half of the crew was dead or wounded. Vlacq lost an arm and part of his shoulder, but he only surrendered when the main mast came down and the ship was on the point of sinking. The survivors were evacuated and what was left of the Muiderberg was burnt and sank.
Thanks to the sacrifice of Vlacq, the convoy got away intact, meaning this Dutch defeat had little impact on the allied cause.
Vlacq , his men and the four ships were taken to Toulon, were Vlacq died of his wounds on july 17 1703.
This battle is sometimes called "The Battle of the Bay of Biscay", but this is geographical not correct, as Cabo da Roca is situated in the southern part of Portugal.