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| - Don Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoli, (August 12, 1756 - March 9, 1806), was a Spanish Admiral during the American Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, who died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1790 he was given command of a ship-of-the line, the Paula, in which he took part in the evacuation of Oran. The same year saw him demonstrate his administrative talents for the first time. During the Nootka Sound Crisis, Gravina organised the formation of a Spanish fleet, the largest in 200 years. However, the crisis was eventually solved by diplomatic means.
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| abstract
| - Don Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoli, (August 12, 1756 - March 9, 1806), was a Spanish Admiral during the American Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, who died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Trafalgar. He was the son of Don Juan Gravina y Moncada and Doña Leonor Napoli y Monteaporto. His family originated in Sicily, which was then part of the Kingdom of Naples and ruled by a Spanish Bourbon dynasty. With the help of his uncle, the Neapolitan Ambassador to Spain, he entered the Spanish Navy, as a naval cadet aged 12. He then served as Midshipman on board the frigate Santa Clara in Brazil. In the course of this voyage, he carried out his first command when obtaining the surrender of the castle of the Ascensión, located in a small barren island near Santa Catalina. In 1777 he survived a boat accident in the River Plate in which most of the crew drowned. In 1778, on returning to Spain, he served as a lieutenant aboard a ship suppressing Algerian pirates. He then obtained his first command - the xebec San Luis - in which he participated in the Siege of Gibraltar between 1779 and 1782. After promotion to Commander he participated in the expedition against Minorca (then under British control), distinguishing himself in the attack on the fortress of San Felipe. After this, and for other actions, he was promoted to Captain. In 1785 he commanded a squadron operating against Algerian corsairs. In 1788 he travelled to Constantinople returning the Ambassador Jussuf Efendi. While there he made and published various astronomical observations. After the death of King Charles III, Gravina took the news to the colonies, where his frigate Paz recorded one of the fastest-ever times for passages from Cadiz to the Spanish possessions in Central America. In 1790 he was given command of a ship-of-the line, the Paula, in which he took part in the evacuation of Oran. The same year saw him demonstrate his administrative talents for the first time. During the Nootka Sound Crisis, Gravina organised the formation of a Spanish fleet, the largest in 200 years. However, the crisis was eventually solved by diplomatic means. In 1793 Gravina, now second in command of the Spanish fleet, served alongside Admiral Hood in the Siege of Toulon. During this period of the alliance with England he also visited Portsmouth to study British methods and tactics. On his return to Spain he was appointed to command a squadron of four ships, with which he served in the Mediterranean taking an active part in the war against Revolutionary France. His flagship was the Hermenegildo (112). In 1796 Spain signed the treaty of San Ildefonso with France, making peace and later entering the war against Britain. Gravina fought in a squadron under Don Jose de Mazarredo. In 1801 he was sent to San Domingo in the West Indies in command of the Spanish fleet during the Haiti expedition under the French General Charles Leclerc. In 1804 he was appointed Ambassador to France in Paris. He accepted this position on one condition: if war should break out he would immediately return to the military. While in Paris he attended Napoleon's coronation as Emperor, and established good relations with Denis Decres, the French Naval Minister. Gravina played a major part in the negotiations of the Franco-Spanish pact which put the Spanish Navy at Napoleon's disposal. For his services King Charles IV appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish Navy, and Gravina returned to Cadiz to hoist his flag in the ship Argonauta (80) in February 1805.
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