External Reference
Date 1986 - 2000
Event ID 887368
Category Documentary Reference
Type External Reference
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/887368
(No accurate location cited or implied). This vessel formed part of the total Armada fleet of 130 vessels, but was the only to reach the W coast of Scotland. Known as Brod Martolosi ('Martolosi's Boat'), she was of 800 tons [unspecified]; her captain was Luka Ivanov Kinkovic and her home port was Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik). The vessel was commandeered for Spanish naval service in Sicily and some two years before the Armada; she may have formed part of the fleet sent to the Azores in autumn 1587 under the command of the Marquis of Santa Cruz.
In keeping with the crusading spirit of the operation, the vessel was renamed the Santa Maria de Gracia y san Jan Bautista; she was not the only vessel under the protection of St John the Baptist, and to distinguish her from another vessel of the same name she caws generally known as the San Juan de Sicilia. She retained her affiliation with the Levant, being assigned to the Levant squadron, one of eight squadrons that formed the armada.
The ship was one of the larger vessels in the Armada; only 22 of the 130n ships in the Armada were larger, and only about the same number were more heavily armed. On embarkation (at Lisbon), she apparently carried a crew of 62 (mainly Slavonic) seamen, under Kinkovic. Embarked forces ('tercios') comprised 135 Sicilian troops (under Miguel de Garros), 54 Flemish troops (under Antonia de Valcarel), and 90 Spanish troops (under Don Pedro Enriquez). She also carried various supernumeraries, chiefly craftsmen and personal servants.
The fleet ran into bad weather soon after sailing, forcing the San Juan and other vessels to take refuge in the Biscay port of Laredo, where a badly-damaged supply vessel was stripped of her guns, provisions and complement. The fleet set sail again on 21 July, regrouping off the Lizard after a week. The San Juan de Sicilia was apparently little involved in the channel fight, and remained undamaged in consequence. She may have remained at anchor longer than other vessels in the fireship-induced destruction off Gravelines, three of her anchors being later reported remaining on board. She was, however, in collision with the galleas San Lorenzo, which lost her rudder and ran on shore, to be subsequently looted.
The San Juan was heavily engaged in the ensuing fighting retreat (northwards), being one the ships that regrouped around the Duke of Medina Sidonia's San Martin. She was evidently heavily damaged, and suffered such casualties as to leave a red wake, but her high sides discouraged boarders. The English ships abandoned the chase when they ran out of ammunition. She evidently passed between Orkney and Shetland, falling behind the other ships and probably suffering from the stresses imposed by the high superstructures ('castles') fore and aft. By a process which has not been established, she reached the superb anchorage of Tobermory Bay, where she gained shelter and provided forces to assist Clan MacLean (based at Duart Castle) against the MacDonalds of the Isles, including laying siege to Mingary Castle (NM56SW 1). The ship was destroyed while at anchor at Tobermory, apparently by the hand of a 'Scotchman named Smollet', and at the instigation of ether Lachlan MacLean or the English. A large quantity of treasure ('30,000,000 of money') was on board at the time.
(Well-illustrated and thoroughly referenced publication by Brown and Whittaker includes summaries of personalities, and reproductions of charts and other relevant documents).
A McLeay 1986; O M Brown and J Whittaker 2000.
