First Cevallos Expedition - The Sinking of The Lord Clive

The Sinking of The Lord Clive

Great Britain, which was now officially at war with Spain, did not participate in these battles, but the East India Company had plans to conquer Spanish territory in South America and bought two old warships from the Admiralty. The biggest ship was HMS Kingston (1697) which was renamed Lord Clive (60), the other ship was the Ambuscade (40).

The small squadron, under the command of Robert McNamara left Lisbon on August 30 and was joined in Rio de Janeiro by two Portuguese warships (among which was the frigate Glória (38) transporting 500 foot soldiers, and five storeships. On November 2, the squadron sailed from Rio de Janeiro towards the mouth of the Río de la Plata to attack Buenos Aires and Montevideo, but soon abandoned the project because Spanish defenders on both cities were fully alerted and well prepared.

On January 6, 1763, McNamara decided to attack and retake Colonia do Sacramento also in Spanish hands. 60-gun Lord Clive and the 40-gun HMS Ambuscade along with 38-gun Portuguese Gloria anchored near the city and started bombardment, but they received unexpected strong resistance from the city gun battery. After three hours of fire exchange, a fire erupted on the Lord Clive, it quickly extended and ship's santabarbara blew up, it sunk immediately . There were 272 fatalities on board, including the expedition's commander Captain Robert McNamara. HMS Ambuscade and Gloria were badly damaged too, and retired from combat.