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The wreck of the frigate Santa María Magdalena

Viveiro, Mariña Occidental, Lugo

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The wreck of the frigate Santa María Magdalena

Historical milestone · Viveiro, Mariña Occidental, Lugo

Image of Viveiro, not of the place itself.

On the night of 1 to 2 November 1810, a storm with northerly winds caught the frigate Santa María Magdalena, under the command of Captain Blas de Salcedo, and the brig Palomo in the ria of Viveiro; they were part of a Spanish-British fleet tasked with defending the Cantabrian coast against the French. The storm broke up the Magdalena's hull, and the Palomo was swept onto the beach of Sacido; of its 480 crew members only three survived, and most of the bodies were washed ashore by the sea onto the beach of Covas, where they were buried in an improvised cemetery. Among the roughly 550 dead was Captain Blas de Salcedo, found embracing the body of his son; the event led the Navy (Armada) to prohibit fathers and sons, or brothers, from serving together aboard the same ship.

1 y 2 de noviembre de 1810

Photo: Enrique Pernas Rouco from Barcelona, Spain (CC BY 2.0)

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