José Antonio De Gaztañeta E Iturribalzaga

Place: Unknown

Born: 1656

Death: 1728

Biography:

José Antonio de Gaztañeta e Iturribalzaga, also known as José Antonio de Castaneta, was a Spanish Basque ship-builder and sailor born in 1656 in Spain. He was an innovator who applied a scientific approach to ship design and was at the origin of the revival of the Spanish Navy in the eighteenth century. He was the Vice-Admiral who commanded the Spanish Mediterranean fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro against Great Britain on 11 August 1718 off the coast of Sicily, where Gaztañeta's fleet was decisively defeated. This led to his most important contribution in the field of ship building, the renovation and re-organisation of the Spanish Navy following its poor performance in the war. He died in 1728.