The blockade of Cadiz, 1797: The Spanish fleet lying in the port of Cadiz with a Royal Navy cutter patrolling the harbour

After the British victory at Cape St. Vincent on 14^th February 1797, Sir John Jervis took the fleet into the Tagus at Lisbon to await reinforcements. A number of damaged ships or those needing maintenance, including Jervis's own flagship Victory, were sent home and Jervis transferred his flag to the Ville de Paris, the first 110-gun ship in the Navy and fresh from the builder's yard. Several weeks later, on 31^st March, the newly-ennobled Lord St. Vincent led his resupplied fleet of twenty-one ships back out to sea and set course for Cadiz, where he intended to firstly blockade the port and then, in time, tempt the twenty-six remaining Spanish ships-of-the-line sheltering there out to fight.

After six weeks patrolling the coast, St. Vincent established his close blockade on 19^th May and anchored off the town in a crescent formation, with an advanced or inshore squadron under Nelson close in the mouth of the harbour. Despite their numerical superiority, however, the Spaniards refused to come out and, in early July, St. Vincent decided to bombard the town in the hope of provoking a response. This too proved fruitless and, in the autumn, the fleet returned to the shelter of the Tagus leaving a small observation squadron to maintain the blockade through the winter.