Cabo Corrientes is a cape on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula in Pinar del Río Province, in the west of Cuba.
It is covered by a protected nature reserve. The cape has been the scene of various pirate encounters and shipwrecks.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
(1939–1945) several ships were sunk near the cape.
There is a hotel for researchers and ecotourists or scuba divers.
Location
The cape extends from the south of the Guanahacabibes Peninsula, to the east of the Bahia de Corrientes.
It is covered in dense forest and jagged rocks.
A road runs along the bay to the village of Maria la Gorda.
Since 1963 the cape has been strictly protected by the Cabo Corrientes Nature Reserve, which since 2001 has been part of the Guanahacabibes National Park, in turn part of the Peninsula de Guanahacabibes Biosphere Reserve.
The cape is brushed or hit by a tropical storm on average every 2.27 years, and hit by hurricane-force winds every 5.58 years.
History
The peninsula was one of the last places of refuge for indigenous people who escaped from the Spanish, and has almost 140 archeological sites.
In early 1591 an English fleet had been organised for a raiding expedition to the
Spanish West Indies
The Spanish West Indies, Spanish Caribbean or the Spanish Antilles (also known as "Las Antillas Occidentales" or simply "Las Antillas Españolas" in Spanish) were Spanish territories in the Caribbean. In terms of governance of the Spanish Empir ...
, which became known as the Blockade of Western Cuba or Watts' West Indies Expedition.
The English took up position near Cabo Corrientes in mid June 1591 to await the arrival of Spanish ships.
On 23 June ''Burr'', ''Hopewell'', ''Swallow'' and ''Content'' arrived between Cape Corrientes and Cape San Antonio and soon sighted six sail.
Hoping these were treasure ships, the English closed, only to discover the ships were a powerful Spanish naval force.
A three-hour engagement followed after which the English formation scattered.
On 29 June ''Hopewell'' and ''Swallow'' returned to Cape Corrientes to find no sign of any Spanish ships.
On 3 July while part of the formation was watering inshore off Corrientes, ''Pegasus'' and ''Centaur'' caught sight of a number of Spanish ships.
After a quick pursuit they overhauled and captured the 150 ton Spanish armed merchantmen ''Santa Catalina'' under Captain Martín Francisco de Armendáriz and the 100 ton escorting frigata ''Regalo de Dios''. At the same time the other escorting frigata was trapped and captured by ''Lion'' and ''Swallow''.
The Spanish ships had been bound from
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...
to Havana carrying valuables which included precious stones and hides.
On 5 July, the English agreed to all sail together with their prizes until they passed the Cuban capital.
The Preston Somers Expedition reached Cabo Corrientes on the 22 July 1595, and there decided to perform a short blockade off