Antonio Barceló

Lieutenant-General Antonio Barceló y Pont de la Terra was a Spanish Navy officer. Born into humble origins, Barceló rose to admiral on military merits alone, an unusual event at his time. He fought against Barbary corsairs in the western Mediterranean, adopting their tactics to counter them and serving himself as a corsair hunter for most of his career. He later extensively developed the Spanish usage of naval artillery and gunboats, leading to the creation of the fuerzas sutiles.

Biography

He was the oldest of the five sons of Onofre Barceló, a small time privateer against the Muslim piracy that attacked the coasts of the western Mediterranean. Antonio started his career as a cabin boy in Onofre's xebec Santo Cristo de Santa Margarita, eventually replacing Onofre as its captain, and added a job as a royal mail ship between Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona.
With the Spanish Navy focused on the War of Jenkins' Ear since 1739, Barceló and other privateers were recruited and received the official mission to prevent further piracy. Eventually he became lieutenant general of the Spanish Navy.
He is also famous for his bombardments of Algiers and use of gunboats during the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
Antonio is also credited with putting sailors and ships under the patronage of the Virgin of Carmel and shifting away from the patronage of St. Elmo. Today, on the feast day of the Viring of Carmel, blessing of boats still takes place in many Spanish towns.