Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán
- View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article.
- Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
- Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
- You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is
Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán]]; see its history for attribution.
- You may also add the template
{{Translated|es|Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán}}
to the talk page. - For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán | |
---|---|
Born | 25 March 1744 Burgos, Spain |
Died | 4 April 1816(1816-04-04) (aged 72) Madrid, Spain |
Allegiance | Spanish Empire |
Service/ | Spanish Royal Navy |
Battles/wars | Siege of Havana |
4th Secretary of State for Navy of Bourbon Spain | |
In office 9 March 1783 – 28 February 1792 | |
Monarchs | Charles III Charles IV |
First Secretary of State | Count of Floridablanca |
Preceded by | Pedro González de Castejón |
Succeeded by | Count of Aranda |
Secretary of State for War, Treasury, Commerce and Navigation of Indies of Bourbon Spain | |
In office 8 July 1787 – 25 April 1790 | |
Monarchs | Charles III Charles IV |
First Secretary of State | Count of Floridablanca |
Preceded by | Position created |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán (25 March 1744 – 4 April 1816) was a Spanish navy officer of the Royal Navy.[1]
Biography
He entered the navy at the age of 13. He distinguished himself in the defence of Morro Castle and San Salvador de la Punta Fortress during the Battle of Havana (1762). He also fought against the Barbary Coast pirates in 1767.
In 1781, he became director of the Royal Artillery Factory of La Cavada, and reorganised it to that extent that he was promoted to become inspector general of the Spanish Navy. In 1783, at the age of 38, he became Navy Minister and continued the modernisation of the Spanish Navy.
In 1785, among 12 flags that he drew, one was chosen to become the Spanish naval ensign flag by Charles III.
He became a knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1797.
The settlements of Valdez, Alaska and Valdez, Florida were named after him, as well as Bazan Bay in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The oil tanker Exxon Valdez, that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince William Sound spilling its cargo of crude oil into the sea on March 24, 1989, was named after the Alaskan town which had been named after Valdés.
References
- ^ Guimerá, Agustín (2024), Harding, Richard; Guimerá, Agustín (eds.), "The Statesman and the Naval Leader: The Count of Floridablanca and Navy Minister Antonio Valdés, 1783–1792", Sailors, Statesmen and the Implementation of Naval Strategy, Boydell and Brewer, pp. 70–91, doi:10.1017/9781805431343.005, ISBN 978-1-80543-134-3