Battle of Cape Cherchell

The Battle of Cape Cherchell was a naval battle between the Nationalist heavy cruiser and the Spanish Republican Navy light cruisers and in the Spanish Civil War, several miles north of the Algerian city of Cherchell. In the early morning hours of 7 September 1937, "Baleares" unexpectedly met a Republican convoy consisting of two merchant ships escorted by Republican cruisers and destroyers. "Baleares" was beaten off and badly damaged in the engagement, but the merchantmen were lost when they tried to slip away along the Algerine shoreline.
The biggest danger for the convoy was not "Baleares" itself, but Nationalist shore-based aircraft that might have appeared when the Nationalist cruiser had radioed the convoy's location. Because of this, the four destroyers quickly broke off the engagement and continued to escort the merchant convoy.
While these ships steamed ahead, Republican cruisers "Libertad" and "Méndez Núñez" engaged "Baleares". A crashing volley from "Libertad" smashed "Baleares"' electronics, temporarily disabling the cruiser's main guns. But the Nationalists repaired the damage and "Baleares" renewed her pursuit.
The warships met again in the afternoon, "Libertad" scoring two more hits on critical areas of "Baleares". "Baleares" then limped off to wait for her sister ship . The retreating Republican ships were later attacked, ineffectively, by several Nationalist warplanes, most of them Italian bombers from the "Aviación Legionaria", a squadron of the Regia Aeronautica which fought in Spain under Franco's orders.
During the engagement the captains of the two freighters escorted by the Republican fleet had panicked and changed course to the south to seek shelter in Algerine waters. One of the steamers ran aground in Cherchell, while the remaining ship eventually reached Bona, where she was interned by French authorities.
The Republican fleet commander Miguel Buiza was demoted after this battle.