{{short description|19th-century Spanish ship}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Capture of the El Gamo.jpg |image_caption=''El Gamo'' (first from right, foreground) at the action of 6 May 1801 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=Spain |flag=40px |name=''El Gamo'' |namesake=Spanish for "the fallow deer" |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |yard_number= |way_number= |laid_down= |launched= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired= |commissioned= |recommissioned= |decommissioned= |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |motto= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured=6 May 1801 by HMS ''Speedy'' |fate=Sold to the Regency of Algiers as a merchant ship |notes= |badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class=32-gun xebec-frigate |type= |tonnage= |displacement=≈600 tons |tons_burthen= |length= |beam= |height= |draught= |depth= |hold_depth= |sail_plan=Interchangeable xebec-rigged and ship-rigged |speed= |complement=319 |crew= |armament=*32 guns: *22 × 12-pounder guns *8 × 8-pounder guns *2 × 24-pounder carronades |notes= }} }}

'''''El Gamo''''' was a 32-gun xebec-frigate of the Spanish Navy captured by the Royal Navy sloop-of-war HMS ''Speedy'' in the action of 6 May 1801. The engagement was notable for the large disparity between the size and firepower of ''El Gamo'' and ''Speedy''; the former was around four times the size, had much greater firepower and a crew six times the size of ''Speedy'', which had a reduced crew of 54 at the time.<ref name=Thomas>{{cite book|last=Thomas |first=Donald |date=2002 |title=Cochrane: The Story of Britannia's Sea Wolf |location=London, United Kingdom |publisher=Orion Books |isbn=978-0304356591 }}</ref> After her capture, the British sold ''El Gamo'' to the Regency of Algiers as a merchant ship.

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== *{{cite book |first1=Rif|last1=Winfield| first2=John M. |last2=Tredrea | first3=Enrique |last3=García-Torralba Pérez | first4=Manuel |last4=Blasco Felip |title=Spanish Warships in the Age of Sail 1700—1860: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|publisher=Seaforth Publishing |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-5267-9078-1 |name-list-style=amp}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100224213122/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/history/naval-leaders/lord-thomas-cochrane/ Brief biography of Lord Thomas Cochrane, including the skirmish with El Gamo] *[http://ageofsail.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/hms-speedy-vs-el-gamo/ HMS Speedy vs El Gamo]

{{authority control}} {{1801 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:El Gamo}} Category:1760s ships Category:Maritime incidents in 1801 Category:Frigates of the Spanish Navy Category:Ships built in Spain Category:Xebecs