Background
The settlement of Portobello was a major Spanish naval base on the Spanish Main. Following the failure of an earlier British naval force to take Portobello in 1727, in which he had taken part, then-Vice Admiral Edward Vernon had repeatedly claimed he could capture it with just "six ships". Following his appointment to command the Jamaica Station, Vernon organised an expedition with just six ships, despite criticism that this was far too few. Vernon was a strong advocate of small squadrons hitting hard and moving fast rather than larger slower-moving expeditions that were prone to heavy losses through disease.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Porto Bello
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)