Page 23 - Anglo Portuguese Rivalry in The Gulf_Neat

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19th of this month, there departed from Lisbon four
4 . caracque9 with a new Vice-King for Goa, and in their
company four tall ships of war with soldiers and a new
*s
l Governor for Ormuz.” This was the fleet of the new
Viceroy-elect, Dom Francisco da Gama, Conde da
Si Vidigueira, who had occupied the same post twenty-five
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i years earlier, but these vessels were intercepted and t
defeated by a combined Anglo-Dntch fleet off
Mofambique in July; with the result that of the
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! 'I intended reinforcements for Ormuz, only the galleon
- Sad Salvador, commanded by Captain Gon^alo de
Siqueira de Sousa, was able to reach Muscat in
August.1 Thanks to all these disasters, the naval
power of the Portuguese in India was at a very low ebb,
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and it was obviously impossible for Ruy Freyre and
Constantino de S4 to assume the offensive with the
solitary galleon and few oared vessels at their disposal.
Under these circumstances, they determined to return
to Goa, whither they repaired in September, leaving
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Dom Gon9alo da Silveira as Captain-Major of the
straits of Ormuz, and in command of the scanty forces
available at Muscat.
The situation of the Portuguese in the Gulf was now
i 1 critical in the extreme, and had the English and Persians
followed up their success with a vigorous attack on
Muscat, it is difficult to see how the place could have
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been held. The Persians were indeed desirous of
I assuming the offensive, but the English, disgusted with
; *. their experience of Persian perfidy at Ormuz, flatly *,
declined to pull their chestnuts out of the fire for the
. second time. The English losses during the actual
‘This fleet consisted of the carracks Santa Tereza, Sao Joseph, Sao Carlos,
Santo Thomiy the galleoni Trindade and Sao Salvador, together with two
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pinnaces. An account of the voyage of this fleet, and its defeat by the
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Anglo-Dutch squadron off Mozambique, will be found in my article Dom
Francisco da Gama, Conde da Vidigueiray e a sua viagem para a India no ano
l de 1622, (Lisboa, Anais do Club militar-navaly 1930J, which is based on all
available contemporary Portuguese, Dutch and English sources.
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