He was seeking a return to a policy of attacks on Spanish trade and shipping routes, whose success in the time of Elizabeth I had acquired a legendary status.

In August 1655, Robert Blake had blockaded the port of Cádiz in the hope of intercepting a Spanish treasure fleet, but it did not sail and remained in the Americas.

The treasure fleet, under the command of Marcos del Puerto, consisted of two galleons, three private merchantmen, two armed cargo ships (hulks) and a captured Portuguese vessel.

Captain Stayner, aboard the Speaker (64 guns), engaged and captured the Jesus Maria San Jose (28), one of the flota's galleons under the command of rear admiral Juan de Hoyos.

The battle was a huge loss for the Spanish, with the English taking nearly £1 million in goods, another £250,000 in Silver,[1] as well as hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of treasure lost to the ocean depths.