Santa Luzia (galleon)

The galleon "Santa Luzia", by Alberto Cutileiro.
History
Portugal
Name	Santa Luzia
Namesake	Saint Lucy
General characteristics
Type	Galleon
Tons burthen	360 tonnes
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	30 guns

Santa Luzia was a 30-gun and 360-tonne Portuguese galleon, known for defeating a Dutch squadron single-handedly twice in 1650.

Service history

Santa Luzia was probably built for the General Company of Brazil.

On 21 February 1650, off Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Santa Luzia, under the command of Bernardo Ramires Esquível, was attacked by a squadron of nine Dutch ships, under the command of Caspar Govertsz Cop. Santa Luzia defended himself with a violent artillery duel, that lasted until the night. After the combat, Santa Luzia anchored near the coast, in order to take care of the wounded and repair the damage suffered.

On 22 February, in the morning, the combat returned. Maneuvering ably, Esquível did not cease fire on the Dutch ships that dared to approach the Santa Luzia, causing a lot of damage and casualties. Possibly because they did not have enough soldiers, the Dutch ships did not attempt to board the Santa Luzia. By the mid-afternoon, having come to the conclusion that the Santa Luzia was impossible to defeat, Cop put an end to the fight by retreating to the north.

Santa Luzia's fate after this is unknown.

References

Bibliography

• Esparteiro, António Marques (1976). Catálogo dos Navios Brigantinos (PDF) (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Centro de Estudos da Marinha.
• Saturnino Monteiro, Armando da Silva (1996). Batalhas e Combates da Marinha Portuguesa (PDF) (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Livraria Sá da Costa.
• Donato, Hernâni (1996). Dicionário das Batalhas Brasileiras (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Instituição Brasileira de Difusão Cultural.