been nearly destroyed by constant bombardment and was close to surrender; although greatly outnumbered, de Hoces was ordered to attack the French blockade and provide time for a relief force to reach the town. The battle Sourdis was an aggressive commander, while both he and Richelieu were anxious to enhance the reputation of the French navy by offensive action. He had divided his forces into three elements, leaving the largest portion under Claude de Launay-Razilly to continue the blockade of Fuenterrabía. A second squadron led by Motigny was sent to monitor Hoces, while a third section commanded by Sourdis himself cruised along the coast; in July, he captured four Spanish ships at Pasaia. Following his orders, Hoces left Coruña with 12 galleons and four smaller vessels and on 17 August entered the harbour of Getaria where he was blockaded by Motigny. This was a strong defensive position, since the shallow waters prevented the larger French ships from entering and adopting their normal tactics of close combat followed by boarding. Hoces strengthened his defences by constructing shore based gun positions, although they were not strong enough to withstand a sustained attack. Once advised of the situation by Motigny, Sourdis ordered the bulk of his fleet to make for Getaria where they met up on the evening of 19 August. Instead of attacking the Spanish directly, he decided to use fireships and cut off any escape route with his smaller vessels; this meant waiting for the wind to blow towards the shore, which delayed operations until 22nd. He formed his force into three divisions, himself aboard Le Triomphe'' in the front line, along with seven fireships. Crowded together, the wind against them and the French warships blocking their exit, the Spanish were unable to escape; by the time Sourdis withdrew at 6:00 pm, all their ships except one had been destroyed. Hoces set fire to his ship before abandoning it; Spanish casualties were around 2,000, while the French lost 40 dead. Consequences The French naval force employed at the 1628 Siege of La Rochelle had consisted of Dutch-built warships, many commanded by foreign mercenaries; the 1638 campaign was the first in which both ships and officers were overwhelmingly French. Victory at Getaria gave Sourdis temporary control of the Bay of Biscay and was treated by Richelieu as a vindication of his naval policy. However, the Spanish lifted the siege of Fuenterrabía on