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 condemned, being proved to be, as Rooke had suspected, really French, sailing under the Swedish flag (, iii. 396). In June 1700 Rooke was commander-in-chief of a powerful fleet, English and Dutch, sent to the Sound to support Charles XII of Sweden against the Danes. When joined by the Swedes, the allied fleet numbered fifty-two sail of the line. So formidable an armament brought the Danes to terms, and peace between Denmark and Sweden was signed on 18 Aug.

When war between England and France again broke out in 1702, Rooke, with the union flag at the main, was appointed commander-in-chief of an expedition against Cadiz, the Duke of Ormonde accompanying him in command of the troops. The force was very large, consisting of thirty English and twenty Dutch ships of the line, besides many smaller vessels and transports, making in all one hundred and sixty sail, with about fourteen thousand soldiers. Nothing, however, was effected. Rooke and Ormonde differed as to the plan of operations; they were uncertain whether the Spaniards were to be considered as friends to be conciliated or enemies to be constrained; and after various abortive attempts, Rooke decided to return. Fortunately for him and Ormonde, they received intelligence that a combined French-Spanish fleet, with the treasure ships from the West Indies, had put into Vigo [see ]. Resolving to attack them, they arrived in the river on 11 Oct. 1702, and found the enemies' ships anchored, broadside on, behind a massive boom, the ends of which were protected by heavy batteries. On the early morning of the 12th Ormonde landed some three thousand soldiers and took the southern battery. The Torbay broke the boom [see ] amid a tremendous fire, and the ships, as detailed, following through the passage, overwhelmed the enemy. Once through the boom, the fighting was at an end. The French and Spaniards set fire to their ships and escaped to the shore; but many were too late, and were blown up with the ships. ‘For some time there was nothing to be heard or seen but cannonading, burning, men and guns flying in the air, and altogether the most lively scene of horror and confusion that can be imagined’ (Life of Captain Stephen Martin, Navy Records Soc. p. 58). The conflagration continued through the greater part of the night. By the next morning all the ships, French and Spanish, were destroyed or taken. The government treasure had been landed previous to the attack. The amount remaining was never known. About 1,000,000l. fell to the victors, but it was long supposed that much more was sunk. Of this there was no proof; and the numerous attempts that have been made to search for and recover it have met with no success (see, Queen Anne, i. 118 sq.).

Rooke returned to England in November 1702, and, upon taking his seat in the House of Commons as member for Portsmouth (which he had represented since 1698), received the thanks of the house for the success at Vigo, and was nominated a member of the privy council. None the less (in consequence of Ormonde's angry complaints) a committee was appointed to inquire into the failure at Cadiz. Rooke, in his defence, showed that his instructions were contradictory, directing him to promise peace and protection to the Spaniards and at the same time authorising him to use hostilities against them; and that from first to last there was such a difference of opinion between him, the Duke of Ormonde, and the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, that the only measure they could agree on was to return home. On the report of the committee, Rooke's conduct was approved, and the following year he was again appointed commander-in-chief of the grand fleet, the sailing of which, however, was delayed by the non-arrival of the Dutch and by the orders of Prince George, till the season was so far advanced that nothing could be done. In October 1703 he was sent over to Holland with a small squadron to embark the Archduke Charles, now declared king of Spain; but, being delayed by contrary winds, was still on the coast on 26 Nov. when the ‘great storm’ shattered, stranded, or wrecked his ships (, p. 100;, Hist. of Queen Anne, i. 104). Rooke himself was at The Hague at the time, but, hastening to the scene of the disaster, he made every effort to get the ships ready for sea. This, however, took three weeks, and it was 26 Dec. 1703 before he arrived at Spithead, with the king of Spain on board.

In February 1704, with only a detachment of the fleet—the rest being ordered to follow as soon as it could be got ready—he took the king to Lisbon, and after cruising for a month in hopes of meeting the Spanish fleet from the West Indies, he received orders from home to go up the Mediterranean and relieve Nice or Villafranca, then threatened by the French. On this it was suggested by the king's council that on the appearance of any force Barcelona was prepared to recognise King Charles, and with this object in view the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt accompanied the fleet, which consisted of twenty-three ships of the line, besides frigates