On 4 March four armed trawlers of the Basque Auxiliary Navy section of the Spanish Republican Navy, Bizcaia, Gipuzkoa, Donostia and Nabarra departed from Bayonne, France. Their intention was to defend Galdames´s mail, passengers, supplies and 500 tons of nickel coins property of the Basque government. The Canarias sailed off from Ferrol with Salvador Moreno as the captain, with orders to stop the transport ship. The Galdames, which was steaming up with the lights and the radio switched off, was outrunned by Bizcaya and Gipuzkoa. Next morning while all the trawlers were looking for the Canarias the Galdames rejoined them. Bizcaya´s captain was Alejo Bilbao, Nabarra's Enrique Moreno Plaza from Murcia, and Gipuzkoa's Manuel Galdós. The trawlers had the intention of luring Canarias close to th