Personal ambition and divided advice in both fleets

Personal ambition accompanied the institutional demands on both command teams. George Byng had preserved ships through earlier Royal Navy disasters and defeats, but he still wanted a victory that would justify his senior position. Rear Admiral George Delaval needed prize money and hoped success would restore his family's political standing. On the Spanish side, George Camocke was of Irish extraction and had left Royal Navy service after becoming dissatisfied with his prospects. He sought employment in Russia before entering Spanish service. Camocke appears to have been the sounder adviser because he repeatedly recommended the opposite of Vice Admiral José Antonio de Gaztañeta's choices. Patronage, prize money, promotion, and professional judgment all shaped this early eighteenth-century command contest.