WThe Action of 8 January 1780 was a naval encounter off Cape Finisterre between a British Royal Naval fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney, and a fleet of Spanish merchants sailing in convoy with seven warships of the Caracas Company, under the command of Commodore Don Juan Augustin de Yardi. During the action the entire Spanish convoy was captured. Rodney's fleet was en route to relieve Gibraltar, and this action took place several days before Rodney's engagement and defeat of a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
WThe Action of 9 August 1780 was a naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War, in which a Spanish fleet, led by Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova, along with a squadron of French ships, encountered a large British convoy. The Spanish and French force captured almost all the merchant vessels in the convoy, which dealt a severe blow to the commerce of Great Britain.
WThe Action of 14 September 1779 was a minor naval engagement that occurred on 14 September 1779, off the Azores between the Royal Navy frigate HMS Pearl under the command of George Montagu and the Spanish Navy frigate Santa Mónica under the command of Miguel de Nunes, with the Pearl capturing the Santa Mónica after a brief engagement. The battle was an episode during the American Revolutionary War, where American rebels under the overall command of George Washington launched a revolution against the British government based on perceived grievances. Spain, having been handed a humiliating defeat during the Seven Years' War by the British, was eager to enter the war on the side of the Americans to regain the territories they had lost, such as Florida, Menorca and Gibraltar. British and Spanish naval forces engaged each other several times during the war, as the conflict spilled over into Europe with the Spanish laying siege to Gibraltar.
WThe Action of 25 February 1781 was a naval engagement fought off Cape Finisterre between the Spanish naval frigate sixth rate Graña of 30 guns and the Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate HMS Cerberus of 32 guns. Graña surrendered after a hard fight.
WThe Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a naval battle that took place off the southern coast of Portugal on 16 January 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle because it was unusual for naval battles in the Age of Sail to take place at night. It was also the first major naval victory for the British over their European enemies in the war and proved the value of copper-sheathing the hulls of warships.
WThe Battle of Lake Pontchartrain was a single-ship action on September 10, 1779, part of the Anglo-Spanish War. It was fought between the British sloop-of-war HMS West Florida and the Continental Navy schooner USS Morris in the waters of Lake Pontchartrain, then in the British province of West Florida.
WThe Capture of HMS St Fermin was a naval engagement that took place off Málaga on 4 April 1781, during the American Revolutionary War. Spanish xebecs San Antonio and San Luis captured the sloop-of-war HMS St Fermin.