Battle of Cádiz (1669)

The Battle of Cádiz was fought on 18–19 December 1669 off Cádiz between the Royal Navy warship HMS Mary Rose under Rear-admiral John Kempthorne, which was escorting several English merchantmen, and a squadron of seven Barbary corsairs operating out of the Regency of Algiers. The incident was recorded and drawn by the engraver Wenceslaus Hollar, with an engraving appearing in John Ogilby's 1670 work Africa.

The action occurred while Mary Rose was returning from a diplomatic mission to Al-Rashid of Morocco that had been conducted by Lord Henry Howard, with Hollar accompanying him in order to complete some drawings and maps of Tangier that he had begun some years earlier. The frigate was towing a merchant ship, King David, that Kempthorne had recaptured from Algerian corsairs, and was accompanied by five other vessels.

The convoy encountered a squadron of seven Barbary corsairs on 18 December 1669, with six attacking Mary Rose while one pursued King David that Kempthorne had cut loose. The corsairs withdrew as night fell, resuming their attack on the morning of the 19th. Despite Mary Rose sustaining damage to all three masts, she held off the attack, and the corsairs withdrew, capturing only King David. After repairs at Cádiz, Mary Rose returned to England in April 1670, and Kempthorne was knighted for "his very great valour". A version of Hollar's engraving of the battle was done by Willem van de Velde the Younger.