Martín de Bertendona
Don Martín de Bertendona was a Spanish Navy officer who served during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III. He participated in the Spanish Armada, and participated in the capture of the English galleon Revenge in 1591.
Early life and naval service
Martín de Bertendona was born in Bilbao in 1530 to a prominent maritime family. His family owned a shipyard and fleet of merchantmen along with a long history of service in the Spanish Navy. One of the family's ships served as the royal flagship in 1522 and 1554. Bertendona was groomed for naval service as a young man, participating in his first military campaign in 1546. By 1583, Bertendona had risen through the Spanish Navy to command the fleet which guarded the Atlantic coast while the navy's commander-in-chief, Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis of Santa Cruz was occupied by the War of the Portuguese Succession.In 1587, Bertendona played a senior role in planning, organising and leading the Spanish Armada. He commanded the Armada's Levant Squadron, a force of huge Mediterranean merchantmen carrying troops and military equipment for the planned invasion of England; his flagship was the largest vessel of the Armada, but was lightly armed and best suited for a close-range boarding action. Although Bertendona had correctly predicted the key challenges that the Armada would face, specifically the lack of secure deep-water anchorages available to the Spanish and the Royal Navy's ability to refuse close-quarter battles, he believed that the Spanish would still had won if they had pressed the attack at Gravelines. Bertendona brought his flagship safely home to Spain, and in 1589 participated in the defence of A Coruña against the English Armada. He subsequently served in the Brittany campaign.
Capture of ''Revenge''
During the Brittany campaign, an English fleet under Thomas Howard was surprised by the Spanish fleet led by Bertendona off Flores Island in 1591. Howard's fleet escaped to safety, but the race-built galleon Revenge under Sir Richard Grenville engaged in a rearguard action against the Spanish. The rearmost English ships were overhauled by the two ships of Bertendona's Bilbao squadron; the larger San Felipe reached Revenge first, but failed to board her and was driven off by English gunfire. Bertendona's flagship, the smaller San Bernabé, caught up to Revenge and slowed her by slicing the ship's bowsprit through her foresail then moving close alongside.San Bernabé proceeded to engage in a long and bloody duel with Revenge using artillery and musket fire. Bertendona orders his men to remain cover and did not attempt to storm Revenges decks, a tactic that proved disastrous for three other Spanish ships that attempted it as dusk fell. By the next morning, Grenville was mortally wounded and his remaining crew struck the colours to San Bernabé. However, the Spanish were unable to incorporate Revenge into their navy as the ship sunk in a cyclone shortly afterwards.