Battle of San Juan de Ulúa

The Battle of San Juan de Ulúa was fought in September 1568 after John Hawkins’s damaged fleet took shelter near Veracruz. English and Spanish commanders exchanged guarantees while the newly arrived Spanish treasure fleet entered the harbour.

The agreement collapsed into a surprise attack and close fighting. Most English ships were lost, while Hawkins and Francis Drake escaped separately across the Atlantic with heavily reduced crews.

The battle became part of the English memory of Spanish treachery and is a central event in narratives about the early careers of Hawkins and Drake.