The treasure carried on board the frigates, however, had been removed by a Spanish fishing boat before the battle and so did not fall into British hands.

[1] This reversal forced the British Royal Navy to retire from the Mediterranean Sea to preserve its lines of communication, falling back to the mouth of the Tagus River near Lisbon.

The new arrivals were two Spanish 34-gun frigates, the Santa Elena and Ninfa, bound to Cádiz from Havana with a cargo of silver specie.

At 14:30 they were discovered by Martin's ships, which had to carefully negotiate a large rock formation known as the Laja de Cape Rocha which protected the head of the bay.

[9] All of the treasure which the Spanish frigates had carried was subsequently safely transported into Cadiz by the fishing boat whose secret cargo was not suspected by the British blockade forces.

[9] The blockade of Cadiz remained in force with varying degrees of intensity for the remainder of the year, with the British fleet retiring to the Tagus during the winter.